THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government informed Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Wednesday that the legislative session ended on December 13 after the Governor consented to Saji Cheriyan becoming a minister. The Governor signed the file regarding the cabinet decision last night. With this, it is certain that the New Year session starting later this month will commence with the Governor’s policy address.

Although two weeks had gone past after the end of the seventh session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly, the cabinet meeting had not informed the Governor about the disbanding of the assembly session. As a result, there were rumours that the government was planning to skip the Governor’s policy address. The government’s decision is made in light of the possibility that an administrative stalemate will result from the Governor and government war continuing indefinitely. The special cabinet meeting to be held on Thursday will decide the date of the new session and recommend it to the governor. The cabinet had earlier tasked Additional Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan to codify the information in the policy address. A cabinet sub-committee to draft the policy address will be appointed today.

The Governor is yet to give his assent to the eight bills passed by the Assembly, including the controversial Lokayukta and University Amendment. The government, which is viewing this action as a provocation by the Governor, has come to the conclusion that it should not go ahead with the confrontation. The government has also been influenced by the fact that the Governor did not raise any sharp criticism in the recent past. Avoiding the policy address will be seen as a provocation on the part of the government. The governor may raise objections against this later. Even if the cabinet decides to skip the policy address for the time being by holding a follow-up session of the last assembly session, a policy address will have to be delivered in the next session.