Accusing Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of plotting to physically harm him, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan asserted on Monday that the Chief Minister had orchestrated the attempt to injure him. The governor\’s accusation arose from an incident in which his vehicle was reportedly struck by activists from the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), while he was on his way to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for a journey to Delhi.
In a visibly angered response, the Governor stepped out of his vehicle and informed the media that his car had been struck on both sides. When he confronted the alleged perpetrators, they reportedly fled the scene. The governor claimed that Chief Minister Vijayan had \”conspired\” to send individuals to physically harm him.
Governor Khan also voiced concern that the constitutional machinery in the state appeared to be faltering. The governor has been facing protests across the state from the CPM\’s Student Federation of India (SFI) regarding appointments to university senates, with the governor alleging that Chief Minister Vijayan was behind the supposed conspiracy.
On the previous Sunday, the Kerala Congress accused Vijayan of being accountable for attacks by CPI(M) and DYFI workers on its activists protesting against the ongoing Nava Kerala Sadas. VD Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, asserted that individuals accompanying the chief minister and his convoy attacked \”peaceful protestors\” along the road.
Satheesan highlighted a case in Kannur where Left workers allegedly attacked a Congress protester, resulting in the police filing an FIR, including serious charges like attempted murder. He criticized Chief Minister Vijayan for justifying such attacks and encouraging his party workers to continue, contending that the chief minister\’s threats of physical harm to opposition party members were inappropriate for someone holding his position.