Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday witnessed an unusual scenario after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan publicly pointed out that Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar had avoided reading certain portions of the Cabinet-approved policy address.

After the Governor concluded the address and left the House, the Chief Minister told the Assembly that the beginning of paragraph 12 and the concluding lines of paragraph 15 of the policy document were not read out.

The Chief Minister said one of the omitted portions stated, "Despite these social and institutional achievements, Kerala continues to face severe fiscal stress arising from a series of adverse Union Government actions that undermine the constitutional principles of fiscal federalism."

He said the other skipped portion read, "Bills passed by State legislatures have remained pending for prolonged periods. My Government has approached the Supreme Court on these issues, which have been referred to a Constitution Bench."

Vijayan urged the Speaker to acknowledge the policy address approved by the state Cabinet as the official version.

Meanwhile, Speaker A N Shamseer said that, as per past precedents of the House, avoiding or adding portions to a Cabinet-approved address is not officially recognised, and the same convention would be followed in this instance as well.
(With PTI inputs)