Thiruvananthapuram: CPI Kerala state secretary Kanam Rajendran has unleashed a sharp attack on Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for driving a hard bargain with the Left Democratic Front government on giving nod to the policy address to the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He also criticised the manner in which the crisis was handled by the Pinarayi Vijayan regime.
The veteran leader also defended the practice of appointing personal staff for ministers after the governor flagged it as a profligacy.
While touching upon ties with the CPM, Kanam said that the CPI stood by truth and would continue to pursue the true Leftist ideology.
Here follows the highlights of Kanam's Rajendran's interview on Manorama News Channel:
How do you view the governor's charge that the appointment of several ruling party members as the personal staff of the ministers is meant to systematically cultivate a chain of cadres?
This is the problem we face if a person, who is in active politics, is appointed to the post of the governor. It is common that the active politicians are eager to interact with the media often, but the senior leaders who become governors usually don't prefer such things. They devote most of their time for reading and writing apart from discharging their Constitutional duties. Arif Khan is different from others. He has got immense experience. But it would be better if he remembered his constitutional responsibilities often.
The governor said that when he was the union minister there were only 11 members in his personal staff and now the number has crossed more than 20. What do you think?
When I was an MLA there was no personal staff. Those times have gone. When I was an MLA in 1982, my salary was just Rs 300. There is no point in making such comparisons now. Now, all MLAs can keep an official PA. In an MLA's office, you can find a helper.
Are you saying that that many personal staff is really required?
There are only 22 personal staff for each minister. Of these, 17 are from government service. Only 10 to 11 members of the personal staff are appointed directly. Most of them are office assistants. Though the maximum number alloted was 30, the LDF government has decided to appoint only 27 personal staff for each minister. There is nothing new in his allegation that some people were accommodated in the personal staff for a very short period to make them eligible for pensionary benefits. This was pointed out by some mediapersons earlier itself. But such appointments are not common. The governor is indulging in shadowboxing by assuming things which are not real.
Do you feel that the governor need not interfere in such matters?
It is the constitutional responsibility of the governor to read the policy declaration statement approved by the state Cabinet in the Assembly. He doesn't have the power to seek amendments to it. If he raises any doubts on it and the Cabinet again sticks to its earlier stand, the governor will have to accede to the government's stand.
Does CPI think that there was no need for a conciliation with the governor?
We should politically oppose what is to be opposed. We should not lose such an opportunity. What will happen if the governor who is duty-bound to protect the Constitution, tries to create a constitutional crisis. Rashtrapati Bhavan and Raj Bhavan are not separate empires. It all comes under the framework of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court had itself pointed out that it was the responsibility of the governor to read the police declaration statement of the state government in the Assembly. So, the governor has left with only two options: either to read it in the Assembly or to resign.
The CPI leadership is claiming at party conferences that the party would act as a corrective force in the LDF.
We need not be called a corrective force. We stand by truth. We are trying to move forward with the real Leftist ideology. We oppose things which are against it. Both the CPM and the CPI are closely working together. On certain issues, there arises differences of opinion. Consensus can only be arrived at by opting for the path of negotiation.