Kerala government convenes assembly as governor sits on ordinance

As Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan continues to sit on an ordinance for removing the Governor from the chancellor post, the Kerala government has decided to convene an Assembly session in which a bill in this regard could be introduced.

The cabinet on Wednesday decided to recommend to the Governor to convene the Assembly session from December 5.

The ordinance pending before the Governor would become invalid once the session begins.

Khan already said that he would send the ordinance to the President as it would be unfair for the Governor to take a decision concerning the Governor himself. Subsequently, the government decided to bring in a bill.

Sources said that the Governor could send the bill passed by assembly also to the President and hence it may take time for the bill to get assent. Already a couple of bills passed by the Assembly, including the one amending the Lok Ayukta Act, are pending with the Governor for a long time.

The ruling left front could put the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front in a tight spot in the discussions involving the Governor. If the opposition opposes the bills the left front could allege that the Congress was backing the Governor, who is alleged to be a BJP-RSS nominee.