Kerala Governor cites half-truths for omitting portions in policy speech

Kerala Lok Bhavan on Tuesday issued a statement explaining why Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar omitted certain portions of the policy address at the 16th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly.

The Lok Bhavan said that the Governor chose to avoid reading the portions of the speech that contained half-truths and baseless things. Earlier a request was made for the omission and the government agreed to make appropriate amendments, says the Lok Bhavan statement. “But at 12 midnight, the speech was returned to the Lok Bhavan without making any change. The policy speech states that the Supreme Court has referred the issue of pending Bills to the Constitution Bench,” the statement read.

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Since the matter has not been referred to the Constitution Bench, the Lok Bhavan said the Governor could not read out it.

The speech also mentioned that the Central government is subverting the constitutional principles of federalism. There is disagreement with the statement, the statement said.

The Governor omitted or changed three paragraphs of the policy speech approved by the cabinet. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan read the parts omitted by the Governor in the assembly. The Governor makes the government’s policy statement. Therefore, the 12th, 15th, and 16th paragraphs approved by the cabinet remain unchanged, the chief minister said.

He further said that the policy address approved by the state cabinet, printed and circulated to members, must be regarded as the official version. “The Assembly should only consider this version as the official policy address,” he said.

Governor Arlekar’s customary policy address, marking the commencement of the assembly session, courted controversy after the state government objected to omissions and alterations made to the speech, particularly those critical of the Union government.