Kerala Governor trying to expropriate lone Left govt in country: CPM State Secretary

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], August 13 (ANI): Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Friday alleged that Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was trying to expropriate the only Left government in the country.
Addressing the media here after the party state committee meeting, Balakrishnan said there were collective efforts to bring down the LDF government in the state.
"The Governor has made an unprecedented intervention (referring to Khan's refusal to sign 11 ordinances), which is against the democratic principles. Raj Bhavan and the state government are two Constitutional institutions that should go hand in hand. But the governor's actions are not encouraging such a relationship. It will only weaken democratic practices," Balakrishnan said.
Earlier on August 9, the Kerala Governor refused to give his assent to 11 ordinances that lapsed without studying them in detail.
Referring to the report that CPI is looking to moot fresh clauses for the Lokayukta Law, Balakrishnan said a final decision will be taken after discussing with the left-front leaders.
He also pointed out the performance of the Ministers and that it has been valued and satisfied by the party. "There won't be a ministerial reshuffle. We haven't thought about it," he said.
Referring to the Kozhikode Mayor Controversy where the CPM mayor attended the RSS Outfit programme conducted by Balagokulam, the CPM state secretary said that mayors need not attend all the programmes.
He also distanced away from the film poster row and said CPM does not support calls to boycott films. " CPM's stand is not based on any social media comments," he said.
Kunchako Boban-starrer's latest Malayalam film 'Nna Thaan Case Kodu' has been embroiled in a controversy after its promotional advertisement apparently took a dig at the Kerala government over the issue of potholed roads in the state.
"There will be potholes on the road to the theatres. Please come anyway," proclaimed the advertisement which was posted by Kunchako on his Facebook account.
In an earlier stand-off with the government, Khan had sought an explanation from the Kannur University vice-chancellor over alleged irregularities in the appointment of Priya Varghese, the wife of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary KK Ragesh, as an associate professor in the Malayalam department. (ANI)