Cowing the Guv

The CPI(M)’s efforts to limit the governor’s power over universities trigger a political row

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

In August, the simmering feud between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and the CPI(M)-led state government reached boiling point. The government wanted the governor to urgently re-promulgate 11 ordinances notified on February 7; Khan said he would do it only after examining whether “any urgency exists”. Amid the governance deadlock, the ordinances lapsed on August 8, forcing the government to hurriedly call a special session of the assembly for tabling bills.

The most controversial among the lapsed ordinances was the Kerala Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Ordinance, which diluted the powers of the anti-corruption body and gave the government an option to ignore its rulings. The opposition alleged that the ordinance was meant to shield Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from complaints pending before the Lok Ayukta. Apparently, the government did not want a repeat of what happened to K.T. Jaleel, former higher education minister who was forced to step down in April last year, after the Lok Ayukta found him guilty of abuse of power in a case related to irregularities in the appointment of his relative in a state-run corporation.

With the controversial ordinance having lapsed, a bill curtailing Lok Ayukta’s powers with retrospective effect was tabled by the government at the special session of the assembly that began on August 22. The provisions of the bill have triggered a war of words between the opposition and the government.

Lapsed ordinances have prompted CPI(M) leaders to launch into tirades against the governor. They say Khan is an RSS agent who is implementing the Union government’s plan to topple the state government.