Outgoing Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan bids adieu to the State after a five-year politically tumultuous tenure

Outgoing Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan leaves amidst controversy, refusing to engage in political drama, bidding farewell with fond memories.

Outgoing Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, who often broke the conventionalities of the gubernatorial office by recurrently adopting an arguably combative stance against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, left student unions and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] during his five-year politically tumultuous tenure, left the State on Sunday (December 29, 2024) to assume charge as the new Governor of Bihar.

Mobbed by journalists at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, Mr. Khan refused to stir further controversy by declining to hold forth on why the State government had not accorded him a ceremonial farewell with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his cabinet colleagues and opposition figures in attendance.

Mr. Khan said he was bidding adieu to Kerala with fond memories and had only “good words for everybody”.

Mr. Khan took strong exception to attempts to compare him with his predecessor, P. Sathasivam, who was accorded a stately send-off by the Pinarayi Vijayan government in 2019.

Notably, Mr. Vijayan and his cabinet colleagues had escorted Mr. Sathasivam to the airport. In contrast, only the governor’s security detail and Raj Bhavan staff chaperoned Mr. Khan to the airport.

“It is odious to compare two individuals. Each have their individuality and execute their duties according to their respective convictions”, Mr. Khan said.

On Saturday (December 28, 2024), Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan visited Mr. Khan at the Raj Bhavan and presented him with a memento.