Kerala Governor Arlekar Omits, Alters Few Portions of Policy Address in House
CM Pinarayi Vijayan reads out omitted portions, says policy address approved by Cabinet will prevail
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 16th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly began on a sour note on Tuesday with Governor Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar omitting certain portions and altering the customary policy address according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
After concluding his nearly two-hour policy address, the Governor left the House. Subsequently, Chief Minister Vijayan told the Assembly that Arlekar had left out the beginning of paragraph 12 and the concluding portion of paragraph 15 of the policy address which was approved by the Cabinet.
The omitted first line of the 12th paragraph read: "Despite these social and institutional achievements, Kerala continues to face severe fiscal stress arising from a series of adverse union government actions that undermine the constitutional principles of fiscal federalism."
The last line of the 15th paragraph read: “Bills passed by state legislatures have remained pending for prolonged periods. My government has approached the Supreme Court on these issues, which have been referred to a Constitution Bench.”
The Governor made changes in a portion about tax devolution, which in the original text read; “Tax devolution and Finance Commission grants are constitutional entitlements of states and not acts of charity.” Arlekar started the line with “My government feels” and deleted the words “act of charity”.
The Chief Minister said the policy address approved by the state Cabinet, printed and circulated to members, must be regarded as the official version.
Speaker A.N. Shamsheer backed the Chief Minister’s opinion and ruled that only the address prepared by the government and approved by the state Cabinet would prevail. “Deletions or additions will not be officially recognised. This has been made clear by the Chair even in earlier instances," the Speaker said.
