Chennithala accuses CM Pinarayi of having pact with Governor to escape Lavalin case

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala accused CM Pinarayi of begging the Governor to read out the policy address on the opening session of the Budget.
Chennithala accuses CM Pinarayi of having pact with Governor to escape Lavalin case
Chennithala accuses CM Pinarayi of having pact with Governor to escape Lavalin case
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On the opening day of its Budget session, the Kerala Assembly witnessed unprecedented scenes with the Congress-led opposition demanding the recall of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. Led by Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, Congress and its allies boycotted the session after raising ‘go back’ slogans inside the Assembly. Chennithala also warned that the protest against the Governor would be intensified in the coming days.

While Chennithala accused Governor Khan of acting as an agent of the RSS and BJP, he also hit out at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for “begging” the Governor to read out the policy address.

The Leader of Opposition also alleged that the ‘secret pact’ between the Governor and Pinarayi would come to light when the Supreme Court considers the Lavlin case next week. “There exists a secret pact with chief minister and the governor. Khan is the bridge between Pinarayi and BJP. Pinarayi prostrated before the Governor as he wants to escape from the Lavalin case. But Pinarayi won’t be able to escape from the case," Chennithala hit out. He was referring to the case that dates back to 1995 when Pinarayi Vijayan, who was then Electricity Minister, was accused of making monetary gains out of the deal with SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian company.

The Leader of Opposition also demanded that the CM should accept the resolution that he brought against the Governor. "The Governor has humiliated the people of the state and the Assembly and we should react against that. We had a Governor Justice P Sadasivam, who completed the term in a decent manner with exemplary behaviour. We never had to conduct any kind of opposition against him,” he said.

On January 25, the Congress leader had moved the state Assembly seeking permission to introduce a resolution to call back the Governor. Chennithala served a notice to Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan under rule 130 (Discussion on a matter of public interest) of the Rules of Procedures of the state Assembly. This is perhaps a first of its kind move.

The Opposition’s move has put the LDF government in a fix as the state had to invite the Governor for the mandatory policy address. This despite the coalition government opposing the Governor for his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and for questioning CM Pinarayi for moving the Supreme Court over the law. 

Meanwhile, Chennithala also alleged that the Watch and Ward (the security staff of the Assembly) had assaulted opposition MLAs. The UDF MLAs had blocked Governor Khan from entering the central square of the Assembly for about ten minutes before the session began. Holding placards that read ‘Repeal CAA’, the MLAs chanted ‘Go back’ as the Governor tried to make his way to the dais. It was then that the watch and ward personnel came in to clear the Governor's path by forcefully pushing back the Opposition MLAs to allow him to proceed to the dais.  

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