Celebrations held to mark Kerala’s foundation day were marred by controversy yesterday.
A special assembly session was held to commemorate the 60th birthday of the coastal state.
However, the government kept out Governor P Sathasivam and former chief ministers A K Antony, Oommen Chandy and V S Achuthanandan from the function.
The governor left for Chennai in a huff while his office expressed displeasure. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan justified the omission citing “protocol issues” and offered to invite the governor to “more important functions.”
Critics say the chief minister chose to keep the governor, the head of the state, away to ensure his own prominence and get the focus on him.
“Let the celebrations go on. I don’t want to take the sheen away,” said Antony, who arrived in the hope of getting a formal invitation. “I decided not to go after seeing the programme notice.”
Religious heads and many from the film industry, including small-time actors, were among the 60 people invited to light 60 small lamps in earthen pots representing the age of the state.
V M Sudheeran, president of the state unit of the Congress, in a statement, said Antony, a former defence minister, came from New Delhi after he was invited by the chief minister by phone. But he chose to keep away as his name was not on the printed programme list.
“I also decided to keep away as Antony and Chandy did not get a decent accommodation at the function. It’s an insult and impropriety,” he said.
Meanwhile, routine business was kept aside as leaders from the ruling and opposition parties spoke about the role played by their parties to help Kerala develop.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan emphasised the role played by the previous governments, including that of E M S Nampoothiripad, who headed the world’s first democratically elected Communist government.
Opposition Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala spoke about his party’s programmes and policies.
Communist Party of India leader and Revenue Minister E Chandrasekheran said it was under the CPI government of C Achutha Menon that the state saw a number of educational, scientific and research institutions come up.