THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will complete five years in office on Thursday (September 5), in a tenure that was marked by frequent run-ins with the state government on a host of issues.
Khan’s predecessor Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam stepped down after he completed five years in office. This was after the Union government announced that Khan would succeed Sathasivam. Since the Centre has not taken a decision in Khan’s case, he is likely to continue in office till a new appointment is made to the post. According to sources in the Raj Bhavan, Khan is scheduled to attend various official programmes in the state till the end of this month. Khan had recently called on President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the Centre has not given any indications of his replacement.
Khan has had a frosty relationship with the state government on various issues that started during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The confrontation reached a boiling point in the case of the reappointment of the Kannur University vice-chancellor. The governor also took the unprecedented action of asking 11 vice-chancellors to step down following a Supreme Court verdict that upheld adherence to UGC regulations while appointing V-Cs. Khan had also refused to accept the state government’s nominees to various university bodies and chose persons of his choice. Alleging attempts to ‘saffronise’ the higher education sector, SFI activists attempted to block his motorcade on many occasions. An unfazed Khan dealt with them by challenging them on the streets.