Kerala Yoga Day Row: Governor Convenes Meet Of Departments, Satheesan Govt Objects To Meeting

[00:00:00]And well, let's get you updates from Kerala, Mark Yoga Day event has sparked a fresh constitutional and political row in the state with the state government and Raj Bhavan now locked in a sharp face-off after the governor held a preparatory meeting with senior officials ahead of the International Yoga Day celebrations. Now, the Kerala government has objected to the move with the Chief Minister's office writing to the Raj Bhavan alleging that the executive overreach has been done by the governor. The Chief Secretary has also maintained that such review and preparatory meetings falls squarely within the executive domain of the elected government and not the governor.

[00:00:37]The Raj Bhavan, however, has stood by its action setting the stage for another round of tussle between the governor's office and the state government. So, this is not the first criticism that it has received. In fact, you also had the former Chief Minister Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan saying that the issue required serious consideration as it amounted to a clear violation of constitutional practice and democratic conduct.

[00:01:59]>> over >> So, while this is what the government has said and also the former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan coming out to criticize this, the BJP has hit back alleging that the governor is not being given due respect and this is unacceptable for merely calling a meeting the CMO sending out such a message.

[00:02:39]>> I think it is the latest case in which the governor has not been given the due respect which he deserves in Kerala by by the earlier LDF government and now by the UDF government.

[00:02:52]If a governor seeks some report or some feedback from the government officials, I think it is perfectly you know, within his rights to seek some input and that too for such an event like an international Yoga Day. And even that becomes a political issue here just shows how the the narrative here is set that anything which the governor asks is you know, to impose the saffronization into Kerala.

[00:03:21]>> My colleague Varshini is joining us on the broadcast with the details.

[00:03:24]Varshini, tell us what happened because the governor called for a meeting and the governor's office still says there's nothing wrong even though the government says that this was overreach by the governor's office.

[00:03:38]>> Absolutely yes, this meeting happened on the Wednesday when the governor of Kerala Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar had convened a meeting with different various you know, department heads as well as vice chancellors of multiple universities and this meeting was specifically happening to discuss regarding the preparations of International Yoga Day. In fact, when this news came out, the Chief Secretary of Kerala, when he they contacted the Secretary of the Governor's office to inquire regarding what the meeting was about, the Secretary of the Governor's office has still spoken about how this was a Yoga Day meeting, and that is why now this entire row that we are seeing between the Governor and the government is once again happened because this is this is not go well with the ruling government as well as the opposition party in the state of Kerala. Initially, we saw Pinarayi Vijayan speaking about how this is unconstitutional and it violates the basic, you know, rights and responsibilities of both the government as well as the Governor's and office, and also how the Congress-led government is not pushing enough to ensure that the Governor stays in his limits when it comes to constitutional rights. And then we saw a statement from the government of Kerala where the Chief Secretary explained about what happened and how the government will make sure all steps will be taken to ensure that the Governor does not interfere with the government activities. So, we'll have to wait and see how this is going to go because we've been seeing what is happening between the government's opposition-ruled governments and government governors in several states as well.

[00:05:06]>> Absolutely, we've seen that happen multiple times. Let's hope that things are end up. Thank you for joining us with all those details, Varshini. But while we are talking about Kerala, let's also talk about the budget that was presented because Chief Minister V.D.

[00:05:18]Satheesan presented his maiden budget in the assembly today. The Chief Minister said the government was committed to stimulating the economy through broad-based development strategies, also attracting large-scale investments across various sectors. This is what he said. Let's get you the highlights of what he mentioned in the budget. The Chief Minister did admit, though, that Kerala's own source revenue is quite low, but he said that despite these financial constraints that Kerala government is facing, the guarantees have been implemented. Going on to say that free travel has already been provided and that is 200 crores that is going to be allocated for the airport development in the state. He also spoke about envisioning Kerala as a hub for higher education and there's one interesting point that he also mentioned for the football fans. As we know, people in Kerala love football. He also mentioned 50 crore rupees for a football stadium in Malabar.