Governor-LDF stand-off in Kerala takes a bizarre turn

NEW DELHI: In his active political days, Arif Mohammed Khan had never shied away from controversy, nor was he afraid of airing his views or taking a stand; the most famous being the Shah Bano case. As Governor of Kerala, he has proved time and again that he has not changed his ways. His running battle with the Left Front government in the state is no secret. Last month, he conducted an unusual two-hour press conference at Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram and lashed out at the chief minister, his party and colleagues.
Now he has gone one step ahead in fulfilling his “karthavya” by threatening to recall certain ministers who “lower the dignity” of the Governor’s office. It is not known whether Arif Mohammed Khan has the backing of the central government, especially the Home ministry, in his new initiative which no other Governor in the past has dared to do.
On Wednesday, the Kerala Governor asked the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take “constitutionally appropriate action” against Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal accusing him of “violating his oath” and “undermining the unity and integrity of India”.
The Governor wrote, “A minister who deliberately violates the oath and undermines the unity and integrity of India cannot continue to enjoy my pleasure. In these circumstances, I am left with no option but to convey that Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has ceased to enjoy my pleasure.” By “withdrawal of pleasure” it is not clear whether he meant sacking the minister. He has left it for others to interpret. For, Article 164 (1) of the Constitution states that “The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.” However, there is no precedent or convention set by which withdrawal of that pleasure means that a minister has to quit or a Governor can ask the Chief Minister to drop a particular minister. Vijayan, it is reported, immediately rejected Khan’s demand, saying his (CM’s) “trust and confidence” in Balagopal “remains undiminished. I hope that the Governor will appreciate that no further action needs to be taken in the matter.” Balagopal in a speech at a Kerala University function had, without naming the governor, had said that those from Uttar Pradesh background do not necessarily understand the functioning of universities in Kerala. The speech was made a day after the Governor had sought the removal of 11 vice-chancellors of different universities in the state saying their appointments were not as per UGC norms.
M.R. Abhilash, Advocate, Supreme Court says the Governor has to work within the regulatory framework of the Constitution. He can only act if a minister behaves or says something which is detrimental to the interests of the nation or the state. Even then the advice has to come from the Chief Minister. This was what happened to a minister in Kerala recently who had used derogatory references to the Constitution for which he had to resign from the ministry. The Governor’s action has set in motion a debate in political circles, not in the state alone but outside too. It is widely construed that the central government is using the Governor to settle scores with the Kerala government. The Left Front government led by Pinarayi Vijayan has successfully resisted BJP’s attempt to make inroads into the state, be it at the time of the protest over women’s entry into the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine or Sangh Parivar attempts to launch hate campaigns against the Muslim community in the state. Kerala has been in the forefront in the struggle against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Even the appointment of Arif Mohammed Khan was seen as an act by the Centre to wean the Muslim community, almost a quarter of the state’s population, to its side.
Central governments have always used and continue to use Governors to create problems in states where the ruling party is not in power. Ironically, Kerala is the first victim of that manipulation when the first Communist government was arbitrarily dismissed in 1959, an act which Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regretted to his last.
Indira Gandhi had no qualms in using Governors to dismiss State governments at her whim and fancy. The most famous being the dismissal of N T Rama Rao (NTR) and the installation of Nadendla Bhaskara Rao (NBR) overnight as the nation celebrated Independence Day in 1984, months before Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
Though the Narendra Modi government has so far not resorted to dismissing elected governments, it has used other means to topple opposition governments at will and install their own governments, of course, with open support from the Raj Bhavans. The CPM in Kerala, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has been of late openly accusing the Governor of acting at the behest of the RSS. This has intensified ever since Arif Mohammed Khan went all the way to Thrissur in central Kerala to call on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at a private individual’s residence.
In fact, it is the Higher Education Minister R. Bindu’s comments regarding the Governor’s refusal to sign the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, passed by the Assembly that seems to have provoked Arif Khan the most. The Governor in his capacity as Chancellor of the universities in Kerala has rightly been questioning many irregularities happening in various universities in the state such as blatant nepotism in appointments and political interference in the working of varsities. In this context Bindu had commented that the “Governor discusses and makes decisions in the RSS camps. All know about his links with the RSS. He is trying to implement the RSS agenda.” To be fair, it was Arif Mohammed Khan who started washing dirty linen in public instead of sorting out the contentious issues with the state government by calling the Kannur University vice-chancellor and accomplished academic Gopinath Ravindran a “criminal” and noted historian Irfan Habib a “street goonda”. Such comments were not expected from someone holding the post of Governor. The Chief Minister on his part could have restrained his ministers from going overboard while attacking the Governor. But sadly, Vijayan himself had stooped to the stature of a street fighter when he publicly told the Governor that “he (Arif Khan) doesn’t know who the real Pinarayi Vijayan is”. After this, the CM had no moral right to ask his ministers to mind their words. Now it looks like the Governor is trying to mix the controversy over the functioning of varsities with that of criticisms against him by various ministers. The two should be viewed separately. While in the case of universities, the Governor is right in pointing out the anomalies prevalent in those institutions even since the Left came to power. However, the Governor’s contention that a minister’s continuation depends on his “pleasure” will not hold water. Such a right to the Governor may have prevailed in the Government of India Act 1935 under the British rule, but not after 1950. But the Governor’s latest salvo is seen as an affront to a democratically elected government. It is to be seen whether the central government takes note of it and cautions the Governor against making such ambiguous and whimsical statements.