If he seems to be losing the perception battle, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has only himself to blame.
An illusion of superpowers is bad enough but on top of it is Khan's by now notorious intolerance. Together, these traits have pushed the Governor to commit excesses, like withdrawing his pleasure in a minister who had indirectly taken a dig at him or asking vice-chancellors (VCs) to resign within 24 hours, or ordering journalists to get out.
Such a brash show of authority, born more out of spite than duty, was roundly criticised, even ridiculed. His attempts to somehow cover up his setbacks have further pulled him down from the stately heights of the Governor.
When, for instance, it was clear that he had overstepped by issuing an arbitrary deadline to VCs, Khan sought to give his decision a lofty spin, an unconvincing trick frequently resorted to by commonplace politicians. The Governor said he had never intended to set a deadline and was only being kind and generous by offering the VCs a chance to make a safe exit in the light of the Supreme Court verdict.
His attempts to somehow cover up his setbacks have further pulled him down from the stately heights of the Governor.
Low on self-esteem
If on one hand, he desires to wield more power than he possibly could, the inverse also happens. There were moments when Khan had underestimated the dignity of the position he holds, like when he drove out to visit RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the residence of a local RSS leader in Thrissur or when he made the unverified claim that the CPM central leadership had chastised finance minister K N Balagopal for criticising him or when he asked journalists to read the memoir of Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the most scandalous gold smuggling case in Kerala's history.
On the day he shouted "get out", the Governor seemed so blinded by anger that he even sought to malign 'his' Chief Minister based on mere hearsay. He made a reference to some young IPS officer pointing a gun at Pinarayi Vijayan, an old rumour that was celebrated chiefly in Sangh Parivar groups.
Governor as a distraction
All this behaviour combined has mainly had two effects. One, to create an image of Khan as a bitter maverick propelled by rage. But a more serious consequence is that these controversies his anger had stoked have distracted from the original issue that he himself wanted to bring to the attention of the public: nepotism.
The Governor's accusation of rampant government interference in universities, first articulated in his assertion that the wife of the Chief Minister's political secretary was appointed to the Malayalam Department of Kannur University flouting all norms of fairness, is serious and requires urgent attention.
But now that he is seen as more resentful than responsible, even if Khan tries to cash in on the alleged job scam in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, it would only be seen as vindictiveness.
CPM's ideological warfare
While the Governor is busy shooting himself in the foot, Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan and the LDF have already positioned their standoff with him as an ideological battle. The LDF has made this out as a mighty, almost revolutionary, struggle to resist the Sangh Parivar forces from taking over the institutions of higher education.
The Governor is suddenly reduced to an unthinking accessory; a semi-automatic pistol in the hands of the Sangh Parivar, nothing more. This way it becomes easy for the Chief Minister to ignore the Governor. The reason why there was no response when Khan challenged the LDF to cite one instance when he had acted in a manner unbecoming of a chancellor. The rationale the CPM wants to convey is this: Why bother about the tool when what matters is the person who controls it?
Also, a larger political fight, where it pits itself against the RSS and the BJP, can do electoral wonders for the Left both in Kerala and also nationally where an anti-BJP coalition sans the Congress is slowly shaping up. If the focus is on the Governor, then perhaps the government will find it hard to face up to some difficult questions.
Unsettling questions
The Governor has already asked some of them. One, why did the Chief Minister demean himself by asking the Governor to do him a favour by re-appointing Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur VC as a favour for him?
Two, why was the wife of the Chief Minister's political secretary seeking to be given a plum faculty post in Kannur University scuttling the chances of better-qualified candidates?
Three, why did the Chief Minister give in writing that there will be no political interference in the running of universities after the Governor stopped functioning as chancellor and refused to resume the role even after repeated requests from the government?
Since the battle is fought at the theoretical level, these practical issues of governance can be ignored conveniently.
