tThe relationship between the left Democratic (LDF) government led by CPI(M) and the governor has been more or less a peaceful thing over the past few decades, with two very few exceptions.
In the late 1980s, a confrontation took place between CPI(M) and the governor during the two-year term of Ram Dulari Sinha, formerly a former alliance and governor of Bihar. The then-ruling front unit, Horns, locked in with the governor to nominate a few members to nominate senators for Kerala and Kalicute University, thus ignoring the state’s advice. LDF took to the streets to protest the governor and even organized a parade of Raj Bhavan. Later, the LDF government also passed a parliamentary resolution condemning her “authoritarian behavior”.
Some young leaders of the Indian Student Union were at the forefront of these protests, and later graduated politically to become the second LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan, attacked with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad.
Although Mr Khan announced that he wanted to help the state government, he began his tenure as governor, the relationship immediately turned sour. Both the governor and the government have strengthened their position on a range of issues related to the country. At one point, the Chief Minister and the Governor even refused to acknowledge each other and exchanged smiles, if not a pleasant motion, when participating in the public function. The governor also criticized the government at the press conference and challenged the activists of the Indian Student Union who protested him in the streets, confronted him directly and called him a criminal. When Mr. Khan was later appointed governor of Bihar, the Nature Party government chose not to perform rituals for him.
Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker who was appointed as the next governor. Even when the lawsuit against the former governor was still pending in the Supreme Court, he started his term in the government’s heartfelt note. Mr Arlekar surprised everyone who expects a conflict between the governor and the government, namely joining Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Joint Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently held a breakfast meeting at Kerala Building in New Delhi.
But the Supreme Court’s recent landmark judgment was the most out of date for the governor and state government. The court announced that Tamil Nadu Governor RN RAVI had long refused to agree to the 10 bills and was legally wrong, so the court set a certain time frame for the governor and the president to take action against the bills passed by the state legislature.
Kerala is one of the states that brought the governor to the Supreme Court. It also made the state’s legal and political circles cover up the Supreme Court’s appeal after President Droupadi Murmu agreed to four bills without revealing any reason by the Kerala legislature.
The LDF government has quickly claimed that the Supreme Court sets a timeline for the governor and president in a petition filed by Tamil Nadu, even if the Supreme Court only considers its case in May, and therefore, the Supreme Court has made a timeline for the governor and president to act for the bill to prove its position. But it was surprising when Mr. Alekal spoke to the media about the Supreme Court orders to rule the judiciary. This raises concerns that liars between the governor and the government may not last long.
However, the government has taken the situation with caution, and ministers responding to the governor’s statements are careful not to rub him in the wrong way. They also seem to be limited to legal issues discussed in the Supreme Court order, rather than crossing the sword with the governor.
The Kerala government is not yet time to rejoice as the Supreme Court made a final decision on the issues raised by the Supreme Court only next month. Furthermore, there are concerns that the court can bring the case to a constitutional judge. This means that the government will have to handle the current situation with caution.
publishing – April 16, 2025 12:56 AM IST
