Even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan warned Governor Arif Mohammed Khan not to forget the sanctity of the position held by the latter and asked him to behave in a civilised manner, the CPI, the poor cousins of the CPI(M) too jumped into the fray.
Binoy Viswam, MP, who is widely believed to be in the running for the post of general secretary of the CPI, wrote a letter on Monday to President Draupadi Murmu asking her to restraint the Governor from behaving in a manner which would bring disrepute to the position he was holding.
“The Governor has become an embodiment of anti-Communism. This is not good for Arif Mohammed Khan. He should not behave in an uncivilised manner,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Kottayam while addressing party cadres. Vijayan said it would be ideal if the Governor stops his campaign against the CPI(M).
Meanwhile, the Governor told some of the reporters whom he met on Monday that he would not sign on the controversial Bills enacted by the legislative Assembly till the Ministers met him personally and explained the logic behind the legislations. He also said that he would go ahead with the constitution of the search committee to find out a suitable candidate to be appointed as vice chancellor of Kerala University.
Political Kerala is vertically split over the spate between the Governor and the Chief Minister.
The CPI(M) and CPI were joined by the Congress and some other constituents of the Opposition UDF in condemning the Governor. Barring the BJP, no political parties in the State have expressed any kind of solidarity with him.
AICC General secretary K C Venugopal alleged on Monday that the recent verbal duel between the Governor and the CPI(M) was a conspiracy by the CPI(M) and the BJP to eclipse the Bharat Jodo Yatra by Rahul Gandhi.