1.8 minutes: Governor Arif Mohd Khan ‘budgets’ his Kerala House speech, skips all but first, last paras

Continuing his standoff with the CPI(M)-led state government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan Thursday cut short his policy address to the Budget Session of the Assembly, wrapping up in less than two minutes.

After reading out the first paragraph addressing the Assembly, Khan jumped to the last para of the 61-page-long policy address, before winding up the speech, one of the shortest policy addresses of a governor in the Kerala Assembly marking the beginning of the Budget Session.

In his 1.81-minute-long address, Khan read out: “Let us remember that our greatest legacy lies not in buildings or monuments, but in the respect and regard we show to the priceless legacy of the Constitution of India and the timeless values of democracy, secularism, federalism and social justice. The essence of cooperative federalism is what has kept our country united and strong all these years. It is our bounden duty to ensure that this essence is not diluted. Together as part of this varied and beautiful nation we will weave the tapestry of inclusive growth and responsible resilience, overcoming all the challenges that are thrown our way.’’

While the government, which has been involved in protracted confrontation with Khan including in the Supreme Court, played down the issue, the Opposition Congress-led UDF said the Governor had insulted the Assembly.

CPI((M) leader and Law Minister P Rajeeve argued that Khan had discharged his “Constitutional responsibility”. “He read out the policy address, which was ratified by the Cabinet. There is nothing wrong in reading out the first and the last paras of the policy address.”

At the same time, Rajeeve added: “We do not know why he opted to read only those two paras. We do know whether he has any issue.