Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan seemed poised to take centre stage in the ruling front-Opposition wrangle over the delimitation of wards ahead of the local body polls in 2025.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has strongly voiced its concerns, requesting that Mr. Khan desist from signing the two Bills passed by the Assembly to delimit local body wards into law.
In a letter to Mr. Khan, the UDF parliamentary party secretary A.P. Anil Kumar, MLA, said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had muscled the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Kerala Municipality (Second Amendment) Bill 2024.
He said the government’s actions were a transparent bypass of the rules of procedure and conduct of business, sending the Bill without debate to the House for voting. The government did not refer the Bills to the subject or select committees, keeping the Opposition out of the loop. The UDF could not register its dissent in either of the committees. There was no meaningful debate.
Mr. Khan had recently expressed displeasure that the government had informed him of the Loka Kerala Sabha only three days before the event. He said he was not at the government’s beck and call. The government should respect the Governor’s office. Mr Khan had also congratulated the people of Kannur in particular for rejecting the ruling party’s alleged cult of violence.
