THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stand-off between the state government and Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan is likely to intensify further as the state government decided to approach the Governor again to convene a special assembly session on December 31 to register its protest against the new farm laws enacted by the Union government that have triggered large-scale protests in the country.
The cabinet meeting held on Thursday decided to approach Governor Arif Mohammad Khan again to call a special session of the assembly. Earlier, Khan had turned down the proposal of the state government to convene a special assembly session stating that no exigency warranted an emergency one-day session of the Assembly to 'discuss' the Centre's farm laws.
Reacting to the developments, the Chief Minister in a letter to the Governor said the government was bound by the Council of Ministers' advice in the summoning of the Assembly and the Governor had no discretionary power in the matter. The apex court had several times upheld the Constitutional principle in various litigations, he reminded him.
In his reply, Khan flayed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for leaking the confidential letter written to him to the media. The Governor also criticised the state government for keeping him in the dark on the reasons behind convening the emergency session of the Assembly.