THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The open confrontation between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Left government in the state reached another level as the Governor sought an explanation from the government for including the state government's opposition towards the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in his policy address to the Assembly.
In another major development, the Opposition UDF has demanded that the Centre should recall the Governor.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala approached the Speaker demanding that the Assembly should pass a resolution urging the Centre to recall the Governor.
In a letter to the Chief Secretary, the Raj Bhavan pointed out that since the Citizenship Amendment Act is before the Supreme Court, including it in the policy address would be 'improper'.
Seeking an explanation, the Governor pointed out that as per the Constitutional provisions, the policy address should include the state's developmental initiatives.
It should not be "about things that are not under the state's jurisdiction," he said. The objective of the policy address is to appraise the members of the government's policies.
Referring to some previous SC verdicts in this regard and the Constitutional provisions, Governor Khan further pointed out that the issue related to the CAA is currently being considered by the Courts, and are hence 'subjudice' in nature. It would be improper to include a sub judice matter in policy address, he felt.
With the assembly session scheduled to begin on January 29, the Governor seeking explanation has further worsened the standoff between the Governor and the Left Government.
The Governor has been at loggerheads with the state government over a number of issues, especially the CAA. The Governor had earlier came out in the open against the Kerala Assembly passing a resolution against the CAA. He had also sought an explanation from the government for approaching the Supreme Court, questioning the CAA, without keeping him in the loop.