THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar (70), who will succeed Arif Muhammad Khan, is known for his outreach to the public, much like Khan. While at office, Arlekar had opened the doors of the Raj Bhavan to the people of Bihar and Himachal and even didn’t shy away from visiting squalid colonies.
Arlekar, a staunch RSS man with good ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership, heading to Kerala barely a year and a half before the assembly elections speaks volumes of the political objective at play. Arlekar, a leader from Goa, will try to bridge the gap between Christian sections and the BJP in Kerala. Arlekar meticulously manoeuvred the move in Goa that saw a majority Christian community turn lenient towards the BJP. He will have to turn back pages from his rule book to emulate the same in Kerala.
Arlekar is not new to controversies either. His last week's speech sparked outrage when he said that the British left India not because of fear of Satyagraha, but because people took up arms. Arlekar will continue Arif Khan's policies including the appointment of university VCs. During his tenure as Governor in Bihar, he entered into a tussle with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by returning the Vice-Chancellor appointment recommendation given by the government.
He is also a fierce critic of the left. Once Arlekar remarked that Kanhaiya Kumar, the former JNU leader, would not be allowed to talk gibberish in the name of Freedom of speech.
Arlekar would go head over heels for classical music and religiously play Marathi light music to cool his head off the official hassles.