A little over four months ago Kerala Governor P Sathasivam had credited the then Oommen Chandy-led state government with doing a great job, but yesterday he flayed the same regime in his address to the Kerala assembly as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has taken over the reins of the state.
“My government has been voted to power by the people of Kerala with great expectations and high hopes. People have decisively reacted against corruption, favouritism and nepotism. The verdict reflects the strong displeasure of the voters against anti-people policies, atrocities on women, weakening of secularism and declining agricultural growth...,” Sathasivam said.
Incidentally in February this year, Sathasivam termed Chandy government’s five-year tenure as a “golden age of opportunities, an age where dreams came  true, an age that propelled Kerala towards growth and development, an age which had opened several doors that would bring in more and more opportunities for a holistic development of the people of Kerala.”
However, the April 16 assembly elections seem to have changed all that in an instant.
The Left Democratic Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) stormed to power after winning 91 seats in the 140-member state assembly, while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won only 47 seats.
Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn in as the new chief minister on May 25.
Six-time legislator P C George, who contested as an Independent candidate this year, slammed the whole exercise of a Governor’s Address as a farce. He demanded suitable amendments be brought to stop the practice as it was the same governor who had lauded the Chandy government just a few months ago.
“The governor is duty-bound to read out what the government gives,” George pointed out.
In his address, Sathasivam claimed the state was facing an acute financial crisis. “My government is today facing the unenviable task of steering the state out of this. The entire borrowing ceiling now permitted by the central government is just sufficient to meet the day-to-day expenditure of the state government,” said Sathasivam.
“To mobilise borrowings from abroad, two of our financial institutions will be restructured as non-banking financial companies and aligned in compliance of Security and Exchange Board of India and Reserve Bank of India regulations,” he added.
The government is also getting ready with a new IT policy which will be in tune with the changing demands of the industry he said.
He concluded by saying that the promises that have been made to the people have to be fulfilled.
“My government will not be deterred. We shall overcome the challenges, daunting as they are. There will be zero tolerance to corruption,” added Sathasivam.
Reacting to the address, leader of the opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, said that while on the one hand the new rulers have pointed out that they will take forward some policies of the previous government, they had claimed there has been no development in the past five years.
“This clearly shows that there is no sense of direction and they appear to be in the dark on how to go forward,” said Chennithala.
The assembly will take up the Governor’s Address for discussion next week with a resolution on vote of thanks, and when that happens, sparks are certain to fly.