The State government has not received gubernatorial consent to convene the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to "discuss and reject" the new farm laws.
Governor Arif Muhammad Khan has reportedly asked the government to convince him of the "emergency" that warranted an extraordinary one-day session. He had assented to the convening of the Assembly on January 8 for the budget session.
The government had sought the approval of Mr. Khan to convoke the Assembly to pass a unanimous resolution against the Centre's farm laws. The Governor reportedly questioned the merit of the request.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has deemed Mr. Khan's action as unconstitutional. The Governor had no discretionary power in the matter. The government enjoyed a clear majority in the Assembly. The Governor could not deny it the right to assemble the House.
Mr. Khan's "refusal" to grant permission to gather the Assembly seemed to have set the stage for another tug-of-war between the Raj Bhavan and the State government on whether the legislature could challenge the constitutional validity of acts of Parliament.
The matter had come to a head in January when Mr. Khan felt the government had overreached itself by passing a unanimous resolution in the Assembly against the Centre's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar portrayed the Governor's refusal as extraordinary.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition K. C. Joseph, MLA, said the Governor had exceeded his constitutional bounds. The summoning of the Assembly was the inalienable prerogative of the government. The Governor was ill-advised to deny the Cabinet, he said.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the MLAs should convene in the Assembly lounge and pass the resolution against the farm laws to protest against the Governor's undemocratic action.
Bharatiya Janata Party State president K. Surendran, sole BJP legislator O. Rajagopal and Union Minister for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan had lauded the Governor's action to protect federalism.
