"All petitions forwarded to State government": Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on row over Land Assignment bill

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 9 (ANI): Amid the ongoing row over the Kerala Government Land Assignment (Amendment) Bill, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said that all the petitions received by him have been sent back to the government for their remarks.
Clarifying his stand on the ongoing Kerala Government Land Assignment bill, Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday stated that he has sought a response from the ruling CPI(M).
"I have received several petitions and those petitions have been forwarded to the government. I have sent it to the government for their remarks and based on their remarks, I will be able to reply to the petitioners."
He further claimed that three reminders have been sent to the Kerala government to send their remarks on the petitions.
"They are not sending the remarks. It appears that they are not interested in this Bill because we have sent in writing these are the petitions which we have received. If the response of the government is not coming despite three reminders, who is to be blamed for the Bill not becoming a law?" he asked.
"If we really want to withhold the bill, then why we will send any reminder to the government? Once we had referred the petitions to the government in writing, there was no need for us to send the reminders. We have sent three reminders to the government," he added.
The ruling CPI(M) staged a protest in Kerala's Idukki against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to give assent to the Kerala Government Land Assignment (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Meanwhile, Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, a think tank working in Kerala, urged the state Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to not give his assent to the Kerala Government Land Assessment (Amendment) Bill 2023.
The Bill is aimed "at regularising the unauthorised construction and land defacement activities" taking place in the ecologically sensitive Munnar area, Vichara Kendram said in a resolution adopted by its state committee meeting held on September 27. (ANI)