Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Tuesday, April 18, wrote to his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin in response to his letter seeking cooperation to move together, against the way the Governors are acting by holding back Bills which require their clearance. "As you have rightly stated, presently elected governments in many states are facing this issue. In Kerala too, certain bills passed by the State Assembly after due deliberation have been kept pending by the Governor for an unduly long time, some for more than a year," CM Pinarayi said in his letter.
“This is despite the fact that the Ministers and officials have personally visited and given the clarifications sought by the Governor. Putting a halt, that too for an inordinately long time, to the legislative measures passed by the State Assemblies which represent the will of the electorate tantamounts to nothing short of negation of democratic rights of the people. The time tested convention of parliamentary democracy that the Governor has to act in accordance with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers is being violated through the act of holding back assent to the bills passed by the legislature,” he further added.
Stating that Article 356 should be invoked in extreme situations according to Dr BR Ambedkar, Pinarayi said that instead of remaining a dead letter, it has been put to oft repeated use - “many times misuse” - to oust state governments enjoying majority support in the Assemblies. “The examples are the dismissal of the Communist government headed by EMS Namboodiripad in Kerala in 1959 and the DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] Government headed by M Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu in 1976 and 1991. As defenders of the federal spirit of our Constitution, we have to cooperate in every effort to prevent the curtailing of the functioning of elected state governments. Even though the time period for giving assent to the bills is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, it has to be a reasonable one. Going by the experience of many states, the Justice MN Venkatachaliah Commission to review the working of the Constitution and the Justice M.M. Punchi Commission on Union State relations have recommended mentioning a time limit, within which the Governor has to take a decision on giving assent to bills, in Article 200. In this matter, we are ready to extend wholehearted cooperation to you and will consider the proposal in your letter with utmost seriousness,” he said in his letter.
Joint action against Governors' moves that curtail State Govts' functioning and threaten our federal principles is imperative. Thiru @mkstalin's proposal for coordinated efforts in this regard is highly appreciated. Responded offering full support for future actions. pic.twitter.com/j8e7mgqDTa
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) April 18, 2023
Stalin, in his letter on April 11, had urged CM Pinarayi to see that the Kerala Assembly passes a similar resolution which the Tamil Nadu assembly had passed on April 10, urging the Union government and the President to 'fix a time frame' for the Governors to give assent to bills that were passed by the state assembly. The special resolution which needs 3/4th of the votes to be moved in the House was allowed by the Speaker with 144 of the 146 members in the House voting for it.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) walked out of the House while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs C Saraswathi and MR Gandhi voted against the resolution. Stalin, while moving the resolution, lashed out against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and said that the Governor was making it a habit to speak against the state government whenever the Prime Minister was in the state or when he (Stalin) was in New Delhi.
(With IANS inputs)