Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan opposes farm laws contrary to speculation

The ongoing strike is one of the largest of its kind against the new laws, he said

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday backed the farmers' stir and also accused the BJP government at the Centre of trying to sabotage the Kerala government flagship projects.

He was delivering the state government's policy address on the opening day of the Budget session of the Assembly that was marked with Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front's protest and boycott.

Since the Governor earlier locked horns with the CPM government in Kerala over holding a special session of Assembly against the farm laws and it was alleged that he was acting as per BJP's political agenda, there were widespread speculations that the Governor may express his dissent while conveying the CPM government's stand against the farm laws.

Last year the Governor expressed his difference over the government's stand against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the policy address.

On Friday, the Governor said in the policy address that the agrarian laws would undermine regulated markets, result in the eventual demise of minimum support price and tilt the balance of bargaining power definitively in favour of corporate middlemen.

In a reference to the probe by Central government agencies into various flagship projects of the Kerala government, Khan said actions of certain central government agencies have overstepped the constitutional contours and were impeding the development activities and flagship programmes undertaken by the state.

Meanwhile, the Opposition staged a protest in the house and also staged a boycott alleging nexus of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan with the gold smuggling case accused.