The worryingly fraught Centre-State relations came under added strain on Saturday, with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) ordering the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to provide Z-plus category security for Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan barely two hours after he accused the State police of going slack on his security at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s instance.
The Central government move came after Mr. Khan’s repeated attempts to cast Mr. Vijayan at the centre of an alleged conspiracy to jeopardise his safety by “arm-twisting” the State police to go slack on his security.
Matters came to a head early in the day with Mr. Khan breaking the conventionalities of his high constitutional office by exiting from his car to confront Students Federation of India (SFI) protesters who waved black flags as the VIP motorcade swept past them at Nilamel in the Kollam district at around 11 a.m.
