‘Does Centre want to vitiate peace in state’: Pinarayi Vijayan on row with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan

Addressing the media in Pathanamthitta, as part of the cabinet’s Nava Kerala Sadas, Vijaya said, “He (Khan) has some other intention. On what basis had he raised such an allegation? Who can accommodate such a person? How can a Governor utter such things? He is behaving in a way that deviates from the normal manner. He is the representative of the central government. Does the central government want to vitiate the peaceful situation in the state? The Centre has to seriously examine the matters,” he said.

Vijayan said there should be steps to correct this approach if there is no intention to strain the state-centre relation. ““This has created a highly provocative situation. Kerala is a peaceful state. He may want to provoke the entire state. We have decided to bring to the notice of the responsible persons at the Centre. Steps would be taken towards that. The state would be forced to raise the serious allegation that the Governor is trying to shatter the peaceful atmosphere in the state. We would look into sending letters to the President and the prime minister,” he said.

Referring to the governor going after the SFI men who showed him black flags, the chief minister said,” Nowhere in the country have we seen a governor rushing towards protesters. He has resorted to unprecedented actions. He had called the SFI activists criminals, bloody rascals. Is this what a person holding a highly esteemed position is supposed to do? If there is something wrong, there are officials to look into. Apart from attacking people, he is now insulting an entire region,” he said.