Kerala CM, ministers skip Governor's high tea at Raj Bhavan

Thiruvananthapuram: The relations between the CPM-led Kerala Government and Raj Bhavan worsened further on Friday with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the majority of his Cabinet colleagues boycotting high tea hosted by Governor Arif Mohammad Khan after the swearing-in ceremony of two new ministers.

Only the newly sworn-in ministers Kadanapally Ramachandran and K B Ganesh Kumar, and forest minister A K Saseendran attended the high tea at the Raj Bhavan premises while the chief minister and his other Cabinet colleagues left the venue immediately after the swearing-in ceremony was over.

The governor and the LDF government have been at loggerheads for quite some time over issues like nominations to the senate and the refusal of the governor to sign bills passed by the state assembly. The Supreme Court while intervening in the matter had sought to know from Khan why he blocked the bills passed by the assembly, for two years.

The relationship had taken a turn for the worse recently after CPM-led student wing SFI held a series of violent protests against the governor in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

The Governor had accused the chief minister of being the mastermind behind the protests. He even made offensive remarks against Pinarayi Vijayan much to the annoyance of the ruling CPM.

The chief minister and his party CPM alleged that Khan had nominated Sangh Parivar affiliated persons to the university senate with the objective of 'saffronising’ the higher education sector in Kerala. They accused the governor of acting like an RSS pracharak.

Meanwhile, during the entire swearing-in ceremony, the governor and chief minister ensured that there was no eye contact between them, let alone the customary exchange of pleasantries, handshakes, and smiles that are seen on such occasions. During the brief function, both went about with their routine as if they didn’t exist for each other.

Soon after the function, the governor left the venue while the chief minister, after greeting the new ministers, left the Raj Bhavan premises.

The two new ministers' induction into the LDF Cabinet was necessitated due to the resignation of Transport Minister Antony Raju and Ports Minister Ahmed Deverkovil. The two ministers, who belonged to Janathipathya Kerala Congress and INL respectively, resigned earlier this week after their two-and-a-half-year tenure ended.

The two were inducted as per the understanding reached in the LDF to accommodate smaller constituents of the front when the Pinarayi Government came to power for the second time in May 2021.

The new ministers have been brought into the ministry under the Congress (S) and Kerala Congress (B) quota.  Kadnapally Ramachandran has been given the Department of Registration, archaeology and Museums while Ganesh Kumar will be the new transport minister.

Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan will have Department of Ports also.