Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday gave his assent to the ordinance promulgated by the Left government in the state to curb the powers of the Lokayukta. The Governor signed the ordinance a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan apprised him of the circumstances that led the government to come out with an ordinance to amend Lokayukta Act in the state.
Opposition Congress had asked the Governor not to sign it alleging that the CPI(M)-led dispensation was trying to promulgate the ordinance when complaints of several irregularities against the government were pending. However, sources at the Governor's office confirmed that Khan has signed the ordinance.
The meeting between Kerala CM and Governor on Sunday was a first of its kind in recent times between them, after a row over the differences between the government and the Raj Bhavan and the alleged political interference in the functioning of the universities. In December last year, the Governor wrote a letter to the Chief Minister urging the latter to remove him from the post of the Chancellor of universities.
The Chief Minister is also learnt to have briefed the Governor about his visit overseas. Vijayan went to the UAE last week after his two-week long medical treatment in the United States and returned to the State on Sunday.
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