Restart Discussion on Guv's Relevance; Centre Should Clarify Army Chief's Statement: Sitaram Yechury

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the ongoing war of words between the state government and Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that discussion on whether the post of the governor is relevant in India today should be started again.

The Governor and the state government have been at loggerheads since Khan supported the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which has been opposed vociferously by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) government.

Yechury said, “Everyday the Kerala governor is making a new public statement. I am requesting him to once again read the Constitution. This is why the role of the governor in various states is coming under serious question."

The CPI(M) leader added that in British India, regents appointed in princely states held the governor's post. “We are not subjects of the central government. This post is superfluous and we should now restart the discussion on whether the governor are required in a set up in this country." Yechury said.

While speaking to media in Thiruvananthapuram after a three-day central committee meeting of CPI(M), he said that the Governor's role is that of a representative of the country’s President in a state, and is a legacy of colonial rule.

“The (governor’s) only role is to submit a report to the central government when they want to dismiss the government. That is a right that should not be there,” said Yechury.

He also said that the committee discussed the outrageous statement made by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on the need for "de-radicalisation" camps for Muslim youth, particularly in Kashmir.

Describing the statement as "outrageous", he said, "Army commanders are entering domestic politics. This is unprecedented. What is shocking is that already such camps are existing.”

He demanded that the central government clarify its stand on the Army chief’s statement.

"We are asking the Modi government to come clean and say whether these camps are existing. This is something completely unexpected.”