Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his cabinet colleagues are likely to skip a Christmas feast to be hosted by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan at Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
In a surprising move, the Governor extended an invitation to the Chief Minister and ministers to the Christmas feast amid friction between the Governor and government. The state Assembly is likely to pass a Bill for removing the Governor from the post of chancellor of universities on Tuesday.
Sources said that the Chief Minister and ministers decided to skip the feast to avoid criticism of a nexus with the Governor even while staging protests against him. Opposition leader V D Satheesan, who was also invited, is also likely to skip, citing "personal inconvenience."
Last year, the Governor invited only religious leaders for the Christmas feast. The state government did not invite the Governor to the last Onam week celebrations.
Meanwhile, the Governor on Tuesday initiated a hearing of vice-chancellors who were earlier issued a directive to step down citing violation of UGC norms in their selection. Four vice-chancellors were learnt to have turned up in person, while three were represented by lawyers.
(Published 12 December 2022, 13:16 IST)
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