Thiruvananthapuram:
Keralam's new Governor Om Prakash Mathur faced controversy on his first day in office on Friday, with the ruling Congress and opposition CPI(M) criticising his reported decision to make the Lok Bhavan kitchen strictly vegetarian.
The two parties accused the governor of pushing the Sangh Parivar's agenda, with Congress leader KC Venugopal alleging that the decision had gone too far.
The controversy erupted shortly after Mathur was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Keralam.
Media reports said Mathur had directed that non-vegetarian food should not be prepared or served in the Lok Bhavan kitchen.
Responding to the reports, sources in the governor's office said Mathur was a strict vegetarian and had ordered the change for that reason. They clarified that there was no restriction on the food choices of Lok Bhavan employees.
AICC general secretary Venugopal alleged in a statement that the governor had overstepped by directing that only vegetarian food be prepared in the kitchen.
Keralam has a diverse food culture and, as a coastal state, abundant fish resources, he said, adding that people in the state were free to follow vegetarian or non-vegetarian food habits.
"Any attempt to restrict the food habits Keralites are accustomed to or dictate what they should eat from now on cannot be accepted," he said.
Restrictions that "intrude" into food choices and seek to erase the traditional way of life of Keralites violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, Venugopal said.
He alleged that a person holding a constitutional office, who was duty-bound to protect people's right to decide what to eat and how to live, was insisting that others follow his own food habits.
The new governor was using his authority to "curtail" individual freedom, he alleged.
"This is a continuation of the unconstitutional interests of the Sangh Parivar. This is the first step towards implementing the saffron agenda of the Sangh Parivar in Keralam," the Alappuzha Lok Sabha MP alleged.
While acknowledging Mathur's freedom to follow a vegetarian diet, Venugopal said it was unacceptable to impose the governor's personal food preferences on the Lok Bhavan kitchen, whose staff included Keralites.
Food freedom was an individual right, and Mathur should withdraw any decision that restricted it, he said.
Venugopal reminded Mathur that his constitutional position required him to protect rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including the freedom to cook and eat food of one's choice.
Echoing these views, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said it was wrong to decide what others should eat, asserting that food choices were a matter of personal freedom.
What one should wear, which language one should speak and what one should eat were all matters of individual freedom, he told reporters in response to their questions.
"Let us eat what we want to eat," he said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) state secretary MV Govindan, addressing a press conference here, said India was a country where people had the democratic right to choose between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
"Attempts are being made to take away this right. Behind these efforts is the Sangh Parivar agenda of communal polarisation," he alleged.
He said there were attempts to turn even food into a "communal weapon".
Lok Bhavan sources said Mathur was a strict vegetarian and had directed that non-vegetarian food not be prepared in the kitchen where his meals were cooked.
Food prepared in the Lok Bhavan kitchen was served only to the governor and a few members of his personal staff, the sources said.
Other employees either brought food from home or ate outside, and no restrictions had been imposed on their food choices, they added.
During the tenure of some previous governors, fish and meat dishes had been prepared in the Lok Bhavan kitchen, the sources said.
Mathur was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Keralam at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan here this morning.
Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administered the oath of office.
Mathur succeeds Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who has been appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)