Thiruvananthapuram, June 24 -- Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Wednesday asserted that his government would strongly oppose the Centre whenever its policies were detrimental to the state's interests or violated the principles of cooperative federalism, but said it would not engage in a "daily battle" with the union government on every issue.

Speaking during the 16th Assembly session, Satheesan defended his government's approach towards Centre-State relations while responding to criticism from the Opposition.

"Is this the first time a Governor has appointed Vice Chancellors of his choice or inducted his own nominees into the Senate? We opposed it and did so strongly. When the Governor convened a special meeting at Raj Bhavan, the ...