Noisy Scenes Mar Governor's Address In Kerala Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, during his address to the state assembly, read out a paragraph related to Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), prefacing it with the clarification that he was doing so only to honour the chief minister's wishes. This itself is considered unusual since it is customary for a governor to read out the entire text or jump to the final part after reading the initial parts following which the Governor's address is viewed as having been read.

Earlier, the Kerala governor refused to read out the paragraph related to CAA but was prevailed upon to do so as the speech has been approved by the state cabinet. The Opposition staged a walkout during the Governors address.

Earlier, Opposition MLAs tried to block the entry of the governor and marshals had to be called in to escort him to the dais. Later, the Opposition MLAs staged a sit-in after walking out of the session. The Opposition has been demanding a recall of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, who has been vocal in his views on CAA.

The Kerala governor has maintained that citizenship was the prerogative of the Central government under the constitution and that state governments had no jurisdiction on the matter. Arif Mohammad Khan was also critical of the Kerala assembly's resolution of December 31 terming the CAA 'unconstitutional' and seeking withdrawal of the Act. The governor and the state government have locked horns over the issue of the citizenship law for the past few weeks.