Kerala Governor, government at loggerheads again over 'dignity of office'

'Statements of individual ministers that lower the dignity of the office of the Governor can invite action including withdrawal of pleasure', Governor Khan said

The discord between the Governor and government in Kerala escalated further on Monday with Arif Mohammed Khan warning ministers of dire action if they make statements against the “dignity of the office of the Governor”.

Governor Khan made his intent known in a tweet: “The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers have every right to advise Governor. But statements of individual ministers that lower the dignity of the office of the Governor can invite action including withdrawal of pleasure.”

However, the majority party in the ruling alliance, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) thoroughly dismissed the statement, and demanded that the tweet should be withdrawn as it was against the Constitution.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan claimed the Governor had no powers to withdraw ministers, and could only act as per the advice of the Chief Minister. It was due to ignorance about the Constitution and parliamentary democracy that the Governor made such a tweet, Govindan stated.

The tweet should be withdrawn immediately, he demanded in a statement.

The Governor, meanwhile, seemed to have been provoked by the criticism levelled against him by CPI(M) leaders, including higher education minister R Bindu over him disqualifying 15 members of the Kerala University senate.

Governor Khan, on Saturday, had dismissed 15 senate members as the senate did not recommend a representative to the panel for selecting new vice-chancellor for the university.

CPI(M) leaders also criticised Khan for sitting on a Bill passed by the Assembly for amending the vice-chancellor selection procedures. The Bill provides for including two more members in the three-member selection panel, which gives the state government nominees an advantage in the selection panel. The Governor alleged that the government was trying to facilitate selection of persons of their choice as vice-chancellors by compromising on quality. Hence, he did not assent to the Bill.