Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan meets RSS chief
Thrissur, Sep 17: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan Saturday night met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat here amid the brewing discontent between the governor and the state's Left government.
The governor's office said Khan had a brief meeting with Bhagwat at around 8 PM.
The meeting took place at an RSS leader's house here.
"The governor held a brief meeting with the RSS chief. It was a courtesy call. It was a pre-planned meeting," a senior official from the governor's office told PTI.
The Governor, however, refused to talk to the media.
The meeting assumes significance as the ongoing tussle between Khan and the ruling CPI(M) over hirings in universities escalated further on Saturday with the former making it clear that the state government could not be given powers to appoint vice chancellors. The Left party charged Khan with unleashing 'false campaigns' against the dispensation.
The Governor, who met the media here in the morning, accused the Left government of preventing the police from registering a case in the alleged attempt to attack him physically at the Kannur University during a History Congress in 2019.
But, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan soon called a press conference at the AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram and rubbished the charges.
He also targeted the Governor for "unnecessarily" levelling allegations against Kannur VC Gopinath Ravindran and eminent historian Irfan Habib in connection with the incident.
The Left leader charged Khan's conduct was unbecoming of the position of governor.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Friday lashed out at Khan for the remarks on alleged nepotism in appointments in the state varsities, calling them "absurd.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
