Kerala CM declines Governor's invite for Xmas feast

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his cabinet colleagues has declined an invitation from Governor Arif Muhammed Khan for attending the customary Xmas feast hosted at Raj Bhavan.

The invite, which is customary in the state when the Governor invites leading political personalities and prominent citizens, was for December 14 at 5 p.m. and a letter was sent by Raj bhavan on this regard on Saturday.

Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan has also decided against attending the celebrations.

Along with Chief Minister and Opposition leader, ministers, Chief Secretary, departmental secretaries, religious leaders were also invited the feast.

As per conventions, on Governor extending an invitation, the Chief Minister and members of the cabinet usually attend the event irrespective of their schedule.

Since August, Khan and Vijayan do not have the best of relations and on a few occasions, they have engaged in a war of words crossing the boundaries of political decency.

Many expected that with this invite, the standoff which has now turned personal, might end with Vijayan and his cabinet attending the event, but now it seems the differences between the head of the state and the head of the government will continue.

Previously, the Government had excluded Governor from the week long Onam celebration held at Thiruvanathapuram.

-IANS Inputs