CM Pinarayi Vijayan Reads Out Sections Omitted by Governor in Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday clarified in the assembly that certain portions of the policy statement approved by the state cabinet were omitted by Governor Rajendra Arlekar during his address to the Legislative Assembly.

Speaking in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said the governor had made deletions and additions to Sections 12, 15, and 16 of the cabinet -approved policy speech. He noted that under Article 176, the governor addresses the Assembly at the start of the first session of the year, but the policy statement is that of the government. "The cabinet -approved text remains the official policy statement in accordance with constitutional conventions and Assembly procedures," he said.

The Chief Minister highlighted specific omissions. In Section 12, the opening sentence referring to Kerala facing severe financial stress due to adverse actions by the Union government weakening the constitutional principles of fiscal federalism was removed. In Section 15, the last two sentences noting that bills passed by state legislatures were pending for long periods and that the government had approached the Supreme Court were omitted. In Section 16, the final sentence on tax devolution and Finance Commission grants being constitutional rights of states was altered, with the governor adding the phrase “my government believes.”

Speaker A N Shamseer said that avoiding or adding portions to the cabinet approved address is not officially recognised as per the past precedents of the House and the same shall be applicable this time also.