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Governor-CM Face-Off<\/strong><\/p>\n \n By Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n \n The face-off between Governors and Chief Ministers in Opposition States sadly has become a norm rather than an exception. The week saw Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka Assemblies witnessing fresh confrontation. On the opening day of the first session on Wednesday last, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi declined to read his customary speech prepared by the DMK government and walked out of the Assembly\u2014for the 4th consecutive year. A press release by Raj Bhavan said his microphone was \u2018repeatedly switched off\u2019 and he was \u2018not allowed to speak\u2019. He claimed the address prepared by the government, made it untenable for him to deliver as it was \u201claced with unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements\u201d, including inflated investment figures, issues like alarming rise in sexual violence, drug abuse among youth, suicides, Dalit atrocities being ignored, etc. Chief Minister Stalin hit back by reading out a resolution in the House condemning Ravi\u2019s actions with the Speaker endorsing it and reading out the 65-page Tamil version of the Governor\u2019s address! Stalin also said his party would make efforts to amend the Constitution to eliminate the practice of the Governor delivering a speech at the start of the year.<\/p>\n \n Policy Omission<\/p>\n A day earlier, the Kerala Assembly\u2019s Budget session got off on a wrong note too. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar omitted parts of his policy address, which included portions targeting the BJP government at the Centre. Such as \u201cDespite 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,\u201d and \u201cBills 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.\u201d However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan later read out the parts which had been skipped saying the Governor had deviated from the policy address, which had been ratified by the state Cabinet. He urged the Speaker to consider the policy address, copies of which were distributed among members, as \u2018authentic\u2019 policy address and the latter obliged.<\/p>\n Minutes Address<\/p>\n Karnataka Assembly followed suit on Thursday last. Governor T. Gehlot refused to read the ruling Congress government\u2019s prepared address to the Assembly and concluded his customary speech in minutes. Said he: \u201cI extend a warm welcome to all of you to the joint session of the State legislature. I am extremely pleased to address one more joint session of the Karnataka legislature. My government is firmly committed to doubling the pace of the state\u2019s economic, social, and physical development. Jai Hind. Jai Karnataka,\u201d and walked out. Some Congress MLAs shouting slogans tried to gherao him at the exit door but were removed by security staff. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reacted: \u201cToday, instead of reading the speech prepared by the Cabinet, he delivered the speech prepared by himself. This is against the provisions of the Indian Constitution\u2026 Therefore, it\u2019s not going to be Governor\u2019s speech\u2026\u201d A day earlier Gehlot had refused to deliver the customary address, taking exception to references to the Centre \u2018repealing\u2019 MGNREGA. Prompting Siddaramaiah to accuse him of being Centre\u2019s \u2018puppet\u2019 and asserting option of \u2018approaching the Supreme Court or not.\u2019 Be that as it may, it\u2019s unfortunate the three incidents in non-BJP states have escalated into a significant, ongoing threat to the country\u2019s federal structure!<\/p>\n \n UP\u2019s Religious Row<\/p>\n Uttar Pradesh is embroiled in a bizarre controversy. It has erupted over a notice issued to religious leader Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, head of Jyotish Peeth of Badrinath, over the use of the \u2018Shankaracharya\u2019 title. The tug of war started during the Magh Mela, a month-long religious fair where devotees assemble at the Triveni Sangam, for a holy dip. The swami tried to reach the Sangam in his chariot for bathing but mela administration did not allow him, \u2018manhandled\u2019 his supporters and so he staged a protest, demanding an apology as the police action was an \u201cinsult of Shankaracharya\u201d. The administration hit back issuing a notice questioning him for using the title, even though an appeal related to the same is sub judice in the Supreme Court. On Wednesday last, Saraswati sent an eight-page reply to the authorities demanding they withdraw the notice or face legal action. He asserted he was the \u201cShankaracharya\u201d of the Jyotish Peeth. The Opposition has stepped in and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP\u2019s love for Hinduism was \u2018fake\u2019, and now it had been established as a fact, adding Chief Minister Yogi must apologise to the seer. Congress condemned ill treatment of the seer and accused Yogi of \u2018disrupting a centuries-old religious tradition by not allowing him to take the customary royal bath\u2019. Politics aside, the big question is whether this dispute, resulting from the BJP\u2019s approach, might affect its relationship with its core Hindu constituents, notably upper-caste voters who regard Shankaracharyas with significant reverence.<\/p>\n \n Delhi\u2019s BJP Show<\/p>\n The BJP headquarters in Delhi was in a festive move on Tuesday last. The saffron party anointed its 12th national president, the youngest so far, Nitin Nabin. He succeeds J P Nadda, who in his outgoing speech listed the party\u2019s achievements and set out a roadmap his successor to expand the party\u2019s influence in uncharted territories, such as West Bengal and Kerala. The party with a difference stuck to its tradition and had all the nominations (37) for the post for Nabin\u2014consensus and no contest. Enthusing the gathering of ministers, top party functionaries and cadres by his 40-minute speech, Prime Minister Modi said while he is the Pradhan mantri, \u201cwhen it comes to party matters, I am a worker, and you (Nabin) are my boss\u2026 I have given an account of my work. He will now write my CR (confidential report). I am awaiting his guidance.\u201d He described 45-year-old Nabin as a \u201cmillennial\u201d which shall aid the party to engage Gen Next. Importantly, his responsibilities are not limited to BJP alone, \u2018he has to take care of maintaining coordination with all NDA friends.\u201d Interestingly, Nabin has risen from the ranks, but few have heard of him outside and his taking over the reins have surprised many. The big question is whether he will be able to steer the party or the big brass will run the show. Only time will tell.\u00a0 \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Governor-CM Face-Off By Insaf The face-off between Governors and Chief Ministers in Opposition States sadly has become a norm rather than an exception. The week saw Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka Assemblies witnessing fresh confrontation. On the opening day of the first session on Wednesday last, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi declined to read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-277084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277090,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277084\/revisions\/277090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}