Analysis: Controversies continue to dog LDF Govt. in Kerala

Many issues, including the formation of the Cabinet and allotment of portfolios and the face-off between the State Government and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, haunt the Pinarayi Vijayan Govt.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. File Image.

Six months into governance, the second Pinarayi Vijayan Ministry has been seemingly caught in a vortex of controversies one after the another, right from the formation of the Cabinet and allotment of portfolios to the latest episode of face-off between the State Government and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on the alleged political appointments and interference in the functioning of universities.

The tug of war between the Governor and the Government is not new as he had come out against the CPI(M)-led LDF passing a resolution against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) during its previous tenure.

But now the controversy has acquired unharmonious proportions when the Governor categorically stated that he wanted quit as Chancellor on various issues such as the reappointment of Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University, selection of faculty of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, appointments at Sree Narayanaguru Open University and the rampant nepotism in the higher education sector.

Looking back half a year ago, the introduction of a new batch of CPI (M) legislators with the Chief Minister donning the role of a patron and him taking over the minority welfare portfolio kicked off the first controversy.

Then came the illegal felling of centuries-old rosewood trees in Muttil South village in Wayanad. On similar lines was the order by the Department of Forest and Wildlife granting permission to Tamil Nadu for felling 15 trees downstream of Baby Dam at Mullaperiyar reservoir. The order had to be revoked.

COVID-19 death data

The fudging of COVID-19 death data has been haunting the Government right from the beginning. Later the Health Department had to admit that the total number of deaths had crossed 42,000 with Kerala figuring second in the list of States in the country.

The controversy of Kitex Garments deciding to pull its proposal to invest ₹3,500 crore in the State grabbed national headlines.

Then again the CPI (M) leadership had to ask the Kerala Women’s Commission Chairperson M.C. Josephine to quit her post when her remark in a Malayalam channel sparked a row.

Likewise, the Government struggled to find a solution to an adoption controversy when a young woman Anupama took to the streets to get her baby back. Only after weeks of tough legal battle and protests, her ordeal ended after she got custody of the baby.

An order of the Supreme Court rejecting the Government plea to withdraw prosecution against six members of LDF in the Assembly ruckus case of 2015 as well as dismissing the Government appeal against the Kerala High Court’s decision to transfer investigation into the Periya twin murder case to the CBI also dealt a serious blow to the Pinarayi Ministry.

And to cap it all, the Opposition parties — the Congress, the Indian Union Muslim League and the BJP — waiting for the opportunity to strike, have become belligerent even to the Government's ambitious Thiruvananthapuram– Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SilverLine) Project.