Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday edited the policy address delivered by Governor Rajendra Arlekar to the Assembly, The Hindu reported.

After Arlekar left the Assembly, Vijayan returned to the House and said that the governor had changed three paragraphs in the policy speech.

A governor is required to address the first session of the Assembly held in a year. As per convention, the governor reads a speech written by the state government.

Vijayan said on Tuesday that while Arlekar omitted some portions of the text, he had made certain additions elsewhere in the speech.

Paragraphs 12, 15 and 16 “as approved by the Cabinet will prevail”, Vijayan said. The English and Malayalam copies of the speech distributed to the MLAs retained the versions approved by the government, The Hindu reported.

Speaker AN Shamseer also said that the deletions and additions made by the governor will not be recognised, Onmanorama reported.

In the speech approved by the Cabinet, paragraph 12 said that despite 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”.

The speech read by Arlekar said that the state was facing the fiscal stress “arising from curtailment of advances”, Vijayan was quoted as saying.

The governor omitted a portion of paragraph 15 that said that bills passed by the legislatures “have remained pending for prolonged periods” and that “my government has approached the Supreme Court on these issues, which have been referred to a Constitution bench”, according to Vijayan.

Shamseer had said on January 14 that 14 bills cleared by the Assembly were awaiting the governor’s assent.

A portion of paragraph 16 approved by the Cabinet said that “tax devolution and Finance Commission grants are constitutional entitlements of states and not acts of charity, and any pressure on constitutional bodies entrusted with this task undermines federal principles”.

The governor prefaced this with “my government feels”, Vijayan said.

The governor’s office has not commented on the matter.

The Left government and the governor’s office have had many run-ins in recent years on several matters, including over the customary address.

In January 2024, Arlekar’s predecessor Arif Mohammed Khan had omitted a major portion of the speech written by the state government, ending his address in little over a minute.

Arlekar’s address on Tuesday was the last during this term of the Assembly. The state will head for polls in the next three to four months.