Kerala governor Arif Md Khan says CM Vijayan 'conspiring' to hurt him physically

Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday lashed out at chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accusing the veteran leader of "conspiring" to hurt him physically.

Khan's scathing accusation came after his vehicle was allegedly hit by activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), while he was on his way to the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to leave for Delhi.

A visibly furious governor got out of his car and told media that it was CM Vijayan who "conspired" to send people to hurt him physically. Khan also claimed that the constitutional machinery appeared to be Collapsing in the state. 

The incident is significant in light of the turbulent relationship between the state government and the governor. On 2 November, the Kerala government filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking appropriate orders against Khan, saying he had been "unreasonably" delaying the consideration of at least eight bills that the state assembly had passed.

On 29 November, the Supreme Court pulled up the Kerala governor for keeping the bills pending for two years before giving his assent to one and referring seven to the President.

A three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud pointed out that neither reason nor justification was given by the governor to keep the bills pending for an “inordinately long period”. The court also pointed out that the governor dealt with the bills only after a notice was issued to the Raj Bhavan on 20 November on the petition filed by the Kerala government.

Appearing for Kerala, senior advocate KK Venugopal had pointed out that the governor of any state is part of the legislature under Article 168 of the Constitution.

The Kerala government has argued that when the governor is delaying the assent of bills, including money bills, it is "defeating the rights of the people".