Guv seeks report from CM

In an embarrassment for Kerala’s CPI(M)-led LDF Government, State Governor P Sathasivam on Wednesday sought a report from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the killing of a CPI(M) leader at Pallur in Mahe, Puducherry and an RSS-BJP activist at adjacent New Mahe in Kannur district Late Monday night and the subsequent incidents of violence in the region.

The Governor asked the office of the Chief Minister, who is also holding the Home portfolio, to submit a report on the actions taken over the murders and to curb violence and political conflict. New Mahe and Pallur areas had witnessed widespread violence on Tuesday following the killings. He also conveyed to the Government his concerns over the murders.

This is not the first time Governor Sathasivam has intervened in cases of political murders and associated violence. After the brutal murder of a local RSS leader, Choorakkad Biju, at Payyannur in Kannur in May last year, the Governor had instructed the Chief Minister, hailing from Kannur, to take action to ensure that such incidents did not repeat. In July last year, the Government had suffered a major embarrassment when Sathasivam summoned Pinarayi Vijayan and State police chief DGP Loknath Behera to the Raj Bhavan to seek explanation on the actions taken on law and order issues in the context of the murder of an RSS leader, Rajesh, at Sreekaryam, Thiruvananthapuram.