Thiruvananthapuram, June 17 (IANS) Arif Mohammed Khan who was appointed as the Kerala Governor in September 2019, is all set for an extension.
According to the rules, a governor holds office till he is replaced and can continue till a successor is found.
Though Khan had many public skirmishes with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Governor is in the good books of the Centre.
Just last week, he expressed displeasure to the Chief Secretary who invited him for a meeting of the Kerala diaspora.
Governor Khan not only refused to accept the invite, he told the Chief Secretary he would not attend a meeting organised by those who attempted to ‘attack’ him.
Before the Lok Sabha polls, there was speculation that Khan might be fielded by the BJP from his home state Uttar Pradesh.
When that failed to materialise, there were rumours that as there was no Muslim face in the Cabinet of the third Modi government at the Centre, Khan might get a Cabinet berth, but that did not happen.
Incidentally, V Viswanathan the Kerala Governor who took office in 1967 got a tenure of almost six years. He was known for taking a strong position against the then CPI(M) government.
P Ramachandran was another governor who got a term beyond five years (1982- 1988).
Now it remains to be seen if Governor Khan will get an extension or his successor will be announced soon.
–IANS
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