Kerala Assembly unanimously passes resolution against three Farm Laws; Lone BJP MLA O Rajagopal does not oppose

Exactly a year after passing the resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution against the three Farm laws calling for scrapping of the contentious laws. .A special session of the Assembly was convened for the same in which the resolution was moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The resolution was supported by the Congress-party led opposition, United Democratic Front (UDF). What was however most surprising was that the sole BJP MLA in the Assembly, O Rajagopal did not oppose the resolution though he spoke in support of the Farm laws. In his speech, Rajagopal said that there is a tendency to oppose anything and everything introduced by Modi government. Eventually, he abstained from voting and later told that he is supporting the resolution though he has differences to certain arguments put forward by the State government. The resolution pointed out that the Farm laws did away with Minimum Support Price (MSP) and is anti-farmer and pro-corporate. It would also impact Kerala, a consumer State, Chief Minister Vijayan reading out the resolution said. The resolution, therefore, called on the Central government to repeal the laws. .Interestingly, what resonated through the house was the unequivocal condemnation of Governor Arif Mohammad Khan who had initially denied permission for the special session of the Assembly. This had prompted CM Pinarayi Vijayan to shoot off a letter to Khan stating that the Governor does not have the power to act against the advice of the State cabinet and is bound to convene assembly session as per the Constitutional scheme. Subsequently, two ministers of the State cabinet also met the Governor after which the nod for Assembly session came on December 29. .The UDF strongly criticised the Left government for not condemning the Governor's actions and urged the government to include a strong rebuke against the Governor in the resolution. The government's response to the Governor's actions was mild and there was no necessity for the State to send ministers to the Governor's house, Congress leader KC Joseph said. UDF also stated that the controversial laws were against the federal scheme envisaged in the Constitution as per which the Parliament has no power to enact the laws passed and the power for the same is vested with State governments..On December 31, 2019, the Kerala Assembly had passed a similar resolution against the CAA.