UDF opposition criticises Guv's policy address; questions need of vote of thanks

Thiruvananthapuram | The Congress-led UDF opposition on Tuesday criticised in the Assembly the manner in which Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan read the government's policy address in the House and opposed the motion of vote of thanks to the Governor by terming it a "paradox".

The Left front too slammed Khan's brief reading out of the customary policy address by terming it as a 'comic play', but at the same time backed the vote of thanks to the Governor.

Indian Union Muslim League MLA K P A Majeed questioned the need for a vote of thanks to the Governor who only briefly read the policy address.

"What the Governor did was a farce. Now the Speaker will have to send a letter of thanks to him. Is it not a paradox?" he asked.

Both fronts also used the discussion on the vote of thanks to lash out at each other on various issues, including the financial problems plaguing the state.

While the LDF accused the opposition of not supporting its efforts to raise the state's problems before the central government, the UDF said that the Left front was hand-in-glove with the Governor.

The opposition alleged that the LDF government was mired in corruption and the row between Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was a "drama" to hide such matters.

"They both are the two sides of the same coin," UDF MLA M Vincent alleged.

The UDF also alleged that there was nothing worth reading in the policy address in the first place and therefore, even if the Governor had spent hours reading the entire thing, it would not have made a difference.

On Monday, senior CPI leader and former minister E Chandrasekharan moved the motion of vote of thanks to the Governor.

Chandrasekharan, during discussion on the motion, had said that his party's stance was that there was no need for a Governor's post in the state and must be done away with.

The ongoing discord between Khan and the Left government revolves around various issues, notably the functioning of universities in the state and his refusal to sign certain bills passed by the assembly.

Amid the face-off, the Governor had on January 25 concluded his customary policy address to the Kerala Assembly within just two minutes, reading out only the last paragraph.