Governor’s warning tweet against ministers was not off the cuff

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan issued Monday's stern warning to remove ministers from their posts if they continued to “lower the dignity of his office” only after closely scrutinizing the acts of certain Cabinet ministers against him and assessing his constitutional powers in depth, it has emerged.

He selected the wording for his controversial tweet after writing and rewriting them many times so that they convey a strong message to the intended parties. The Governor wanted to warn the ministers that their criticisms against him are crossing the boundaries and that he will no longer remain a mute spectator, sources said.

According to them, the tweet yielded desired results, as is “clear by the responses”. It has opened floodgates for a debate about whether the Constitution empowers the Governor to remove ministers from their posts.

A section, including minister M B Rajesh, and the CPM itself tried to point fingers at certain officials of the Raj Bhavan, giving a picture that they were behind the “creation” of the tweet. However, the officials merely posted the “careful wordings” that Governor Khan dictated to them on Twitter, the sources added.

Higher Education Minister R Bindu had issued a statement criticizing the Governor days back. The same was not widely reported in the media. Khan also travelled to Lucknow on Saturday. It was after this that someone brought his attention to the remarks made by minister Bindu and convinced him that the same had crossed all boundaries. The Governor then examined the video of her remarks, among other things, before finally directing his officials to issue a warning to the ministers through his official tweet.

While he was quite restrained to the criticisms of the Chief Minister, Khan wanted to send out a stern message to the ministers that he would not tolerate their fault-finding of him or his office. Of late, the CM and the Governor indulged in a war of words over a series of issues, including the appointment of the Kerala University Vice-Chancellor.

Though the Governor is currently in Delhi, he keenly follows the political developments back in Kerala. He also promptly examines the files online and takes the action in all important matters, including the extension of the term of the Search Committee, constituted for VC appointment.

Bindu's remarks

The controversial remarks of minister R Bindu that are thought to have enraged Khan are as follows, “The Governor is yet to sign the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which was passed by the Assembly a year back. The key proposed legislation lays down the provisions for certain safeguards for teachers and students in autonomous colleges. He (the Governor) could have returned the Bill by citing the anomalies and shortcomings if any. However, he has instead kept it in his custody, taking no action.

“It’s the responsibility of all, and not a particular section, to fulfill the duties enlisted under the Constitution. Till now, we have aired no statement or opinion against the Governor. That is to maintain ethics as part of the Constitutional process. The Governor discusses and makes decisions in the RSS camps. All know about his RSS links. He is trying to implement the RSS agenda. So, there warrants no further explanation on the matter. The Government and the Governor are not confronting directly with each other. So far, we have restrained ourselves while trying to run the state of affairs. However, the situation is getting more difficult. It is the Governor who should take measures to avoid the same."

M B Rajesh withdraws FB post against Governor
Minister M B Rajesh had also come out with a Facebook post, countering the warning message of Governor Muhammad Arif Khan. However, the former withdrew the same within minutes of sharing it on social media.

“Got to know about the Governor’s tweet. He was saying that he will take action, including the withdrawal of ministers if they resort to making statements that lower the dignity of the Governor’s office. With all due respect, let me make three things clear.

· Criticisms never amount to lowering the dignity of any post. In a democracy, none is above criticism. Anyone can criticize anybody in a dignified manner.

· It is not one of the ministers in Kerala who termed the Vice-Chancellor a ‘criminal’ and a noted historian, past 90 years of age, a ‘street goon’. No minister has aired such jibes against anyone in the state, nor will they do it in the future. That’s not the culture of the Left Government.

Let me kindly remind you that the ‘pleasure’ of the Governor in a democracy is not the ‘aspiration’ of a King in a monarchy.

This is clearly referred to by Article 164 of the Indian Constitution, and the various Supreme Court Judgments made on its basis. It is those creating tweets in his name who are lowering the dignity of his office. It will do him good if he keeps a watchful eye on them.”