Thiruvananthapuram: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday cut short his customary policy address in the assembly to mark the beginning of budget session to one minute and 18 seconds, the shortest such speech in the history of the House. By reading out just the first line and the last para of the original 62-page speech, the governor ensured that he had technically fulfilled his obligation, but leaving behind serious questions on whether his reported differences with the government and chief minister should extend to the entire august assembly that represents the will of the whole state.
Most governors usually read the full policy address though Khan and his predecessor P Sathasivam had skipped some parts of their respective speeches earlier that were critical of the Union government. This time round, the Pinarayi government had ensured that the criticism against the Centre was minimal in the speech. There was no major criticism of central policies in the address except for two instances. It said the state had been constrained to approach Supreme Court for a solution to the financial impasse thrust on it by the Centre by imposing restrictions on its “off-budget” borrowings. It also said: “Government is put to added liquidity stress because of the retrospective cut in borrowing limits, which is not in accordance with the accepted recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission. This stand of the Union government needs an early reconsideration.”
After finishing his speech, a sulking Khan left the assembly once the national anthem was played. The entire exercise ended in less than five minutes. Khan’s action drew sharp criticism from the UDF, which termed it a “mockery and insult to the assembly”. The government and the LDF played it down though, saying how much of the address the governor read out was insignificant.
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Most governors usually read the full policy address though Khan and his predecessor P Sathasivam had skipped some parts of their respective speeches earlier that were critical of the Union government. This time round, the Pinarayi government had ensured that the criticism against the Centre was minimal in the speech. There was no major criticism of central policies in the address except for two instances. It said the state had been constrained to approach Supreme Court for a solution to the financial impasse thrust on it by the Centre by imposing restrictions on its “off-budget” borrowings. It also said: “Government is put to added liquidity stress because of the retrospective cut in borrowing limits, which is not in accordance with the accepted recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission. This stand of the Union government needs an early reconsideration.”
After finishing his speech, a sulking Khan left the assembly once the national anthem was played. The entire exercise ended in less than five minutes. Khan’s action drew sharp criticism from the UDF, which termed it a “mockery and insult to the assembly”. The government and the LDF played it down though, saying how much of the address the governor read out was insignificant.
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