Governors vs Governments row spreads across southern States
A day after Kerala Government’s policy address, delivered by the Governor in the State Assembly on Tuesday sparked a row after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar of “omitting” portions of the speech, neigbouring State Karnataka’s Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot refused to address the joint sitting of the State legislature on Thursday 22, with the Government deciding to reach out to him following his decision.
Incidentally, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi too had on Tuesday walked out of the State Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House on the opening day of its inaugural session of the year, claiming “inaccuracies” in the text. Similarly, Arlekar had allegedly “omitted” portions of his speech, with the the Lok Bhavan claiming his suggestions had been excluded from the original draft.
Sources said the grounds for the Karnataka Governor’s refusal are not clear however, alleged references to the Centre in the address is said to be the reason. The development comes a day after controversies erupted over Govenors’ addresses to the Assemblies in neighbouring Kerala and Tamil Nadu, both non-BJP ruled States like Karnataka.
A high-level delegation led by Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil is set to meet the Governor at Lok Bhavan in this regard. “In the wake of the Governor’s refusal to address the joint session tomorrow, a high-level delegation led by the Law Minister will leave for Raj Bhavan...” the minister’s office said in a statement.The joint session of Karnataka legislature that will begin on Thursday is expected to be stormy, with confrontation expected between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP- JD (S) combine on a host of issues including the “repeal” of MGNREGA by the Centre.
The session from January 22 to 31 is set to begin with Gehlot’s customary address to the joint sitting of legislature on Thursday.Confrontation is expected between the treasury and opposition benches as the ruling Congress is planning to pass a resolution against the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre for repealing the UPA era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and demand for its restoration by scrapping the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act.
The state Government’s move coincides with the Congress’ nationwide campaign “Save MGNREGA”. The Karnataka cabinet has decided not to accept the recently enacted VB-G RAM G Act, replacing the MGNREGA, and to take up a legal battle against it.In response, the Lok Bhavan claimed that the Governor’s suggestions had been excluded from the original draft.
After Arlekar concluded his two-hour-long policy address and left the Kearala Assembly, Vijayan told the assembly that the Governor omitted portions including sections criticising the BJP-ruled Centre’s fiscal policy and references to Bills pending approval from the Lok Bhavan.
Soon after the CM’s accusation, the Lok Bhavan termed the controversy over the Governor’s speech as “unnecessary and baseless” and claimed that Arlekar had asked the Government to remove the “half-truths” from the draft of the policy address.
