‘I don’t have the right to sack a minister, withdrew pleasure to inform minister’s statement to people; mistake in appointment of Kannur VC’, says governor

NEW DELHI: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said that he has no power to sack a minister. A minister is decided by the chief minister. The governor said that he withdrew the pleasure only to inform the people finance minister’s statement embroiled in local arguments.

Meantime, the governor said that a mistake occurred from his side in re-appointing Dr Gopinath Ravindran as the vice chancellor of the Kannur University. He added that the appointment of Gopinath Ravindran was not legal.

He said that he had pledged to protect the interests of the people of Kerala. He said that he just did his duty. He said this while speaking in an interview given to a news agency.

The Governor had sent a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding to oust the finance minister. The Governor in his letter pointed that the finance minister's speech had insulted him and that he had lost pleasure in him.

The chief minister replied to the Governor rejecting the demand immediately after getting the letter. The chief minister said the finance minister's speech had not belittled the Governor or the Raj Bhavan and was not a violation of the Constitution.