The Centre on Saturday January 27 extended Z+ security cover to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan after high drama played out in the state’s Kollam district.
The Governor, who was on his way from Thiruvananthapuram to attend a programme in Kottarakkara, saw Students Federation of India (SFI) protestors waving black flags and banners, stating "Sanghi Chancellor go back" – at him, the PTI reported.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Khan ordered his vehicle to be stopped, got out and walked towards the SFI activists to confront them. The dramatic scenes were witnessed at Nilamel in Kollam, located about 40 km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
As Khan rushed towards the protestors shouting at them, the police personnel deployed there acted as a barrier between him and the SFI workers who kept yelling slogans at Khan.
After the police removed the protestors from the area, a visibly irked Khan, took a chair from a shop on the busy MC Road and sat on the roadside demanding police action against the activists of the CPI-M-affiliated SFI for staging a black flag protest against him.
After sitting there for over two hours, Khan left the place only after the police showed him a copy of the FIR registered against 17 SFI activists under non-bailable provisions of the law.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Nilamel, the Governor lashed out at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying the Marxist veteran was "promoting lawlessness in the state".
The Governor also said that the "attacks" against him were being organised "to divert attention from the Left government's failures and provoke some drastic action (from him)".
"I am not going to oblige them," he said.
The Governor also termed the SFI activists as "goondas" and "daily wagers" of the Marxist veteran and the Left party.
Less than an hour after what happened in Nilamel, the Kerala Raj Bhavan announced that the Ministry of Home Affairs has extended Z+ security cover of CRPF personnel to Khan.
"The Union Home Ministry has informed Kerala Raj Bhavan that Z+ Security cover of CRPF is being extended to Hon'ble Governor and Kerala Raj Bhavan," a post, on the Governor's X handle and Facebook page, said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan told reporters that the situation "clearly indicates" that the Home Department and Vijayan, who heads it, have failed to discharge their Constitutional duties.
He also said the CM should realise that the Governor cannot be deterred by such moves. "He (CM) should understand that he is playing with fire," the MoS said.
While the BJP threw its weight behind Khan, State General Education Minister V Sivankutty said that no Governor of any state in the country has behaved in this manner. He termed the incident as the "fourth show" of the Governor.
"The first show was when he got out of his vehicle while on his way to the Thiruvananthapuram airport when SFI activists waved black flags at him. The second one was the manner in which he concluded the government's customary policy address in the Assembly."
"The third was his conduct during the Republic Day celebrations at the Central Stadium in the state capital and this is the fourth one," the minister said.
The Congress-led UDF on the other hand said that this was all part of the ongoing political drama of the state government and the Governor.
Khan and the Left government have been at loggerheads over several issues, primarily about the functioning of universities in the state and his non-signing of certain bills passed by the Assembly.
With inputs from PTI.
(Edited by : Priyanka Deshpande)
