Days after Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan voiced his support for the Citizenship Amendment Act, Congress leader and the opposition leader of Kerala asked him to not attend a program where he was invited.

This was informed by the official Twitter handle of the Kerala Governor, which said that opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala requested the governor not to attend the event. According to the letter written by Chennithala to the governor, governor Arif Mohammad Khan was originally invited to inaugurate the commemoration of former Kerala CM K Karunakaran at 4 PM on 23 December.

As invited by Sh.RameshChennithala, Opposition Leader,Hon’ble Governor Shri Arif Mohammed Khan was to inaugurate Commemoration of Late K Karunakaran, Ex Kerala CM & @INCIndia Leader at 4pm, 23Dec. But, today,office of Sh. @chennithala requested Hon’ble Governor NOT to attend pic.twitter.com/aCf0r7C4aO — Kerala Governor (@KeralaGovernor) December 23, 2019

After thanking the governor for agreeing to attend the event, the letter addressed to the ADC to Governor states, “however due to some unexpected developments, the organisers of the programme have advised that it would not be appropriate for the Hon’ble Governor to grace the function. Taking into consideration all the aspects and the available information, Leader of Opposition also feels that it would be ideal, if the Hon’ble Governor takes out this programme from his schedule of functions for the specified day.”

The letter was sent today, 23rd December, the day when the event was scheduled, which means it was a last-minute decision. The letter does not mention the ‘unexpected developments’ that forced them to ask the governor not to attend their event, but the reason can be easily guessed. Congress party is organising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and they don’t want to be associated with a person who have expressed pro-CAA views.

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Two days ago, governor Arif Mohammad Khan had said that by enacting the CAA, the Modi government has promise made by Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Congress to the people who were leading deplorable lives in Pakistan. He had added that the foundation of the Citizenship Amendment Act was laid in 1995 and 2003 and the BJP government has simply given a legal form to it. A couple of days before that, he had said that the amendment is an “extraordinary solution” in the wake of minorities from neighbouring countries fleeing religious persecution.