Keralam governor Om Prakash Mathur on Friday set off a controversy on his first day in office by directing the Lok Bhavan kitchen to cook only vegetarian food.
According to sources, the Lok Bhavan kitchen used to serve both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food to governors and guests.
Rajasthan native Mathur issued the directive to his staff even before reaching Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday evening.
Mathur assumed office as the 29th governor of Keralam on Friday afternoon.
A source at the Lok Bhavan told The Telegraph that Mathur had provided the staff with a list of dos and don’ts, mentioning that only vegetarian food should be prepared in the kitchen.
“Mathur, a vegetarian, has directed us not to serve fish or meat in all future functions held at the Lok Bhavan. There is no private kitchen exclusively for the governor. During events, all types of food are cooked in the same kitchen. However, Mathur has permitted the employees to consume food of their choice, but non-veg dishes cannot be cooked in the kitchen,” the Lok Bhavan source said on the condition of anonymity.
Mathur, who was the governor of Sikkim, has reportedly brought cooks from Rajasthan to prepare his food at the Lok Bhavan.
The source said Mathur’s predecessor Rajendra Arlekar, a Goan native, loved fish.
AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal slammed the directive as premature and urged the governor to withdraw it, citing dietary, cultural and constitutional freedom.
“Those who have already deprived citizens of their democratic rights by stealing their votes are now preparing to take away their freedom of food choice as well. Without even understanding Keralam’s social fabric, the governor has issued a directive that amounts to a serious overreach,” Venugopal posted on Facebook.
He said Keralam has a diverse food culture and, as a coastal state, abundant fish resources, adding that people were free to follow their food habits.
“Any attempt to prohibit the food habits Malayalis have long followed, or to dictate what they should eat from now on is unacceptable,” he wrote.
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 added.
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.
“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.
CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan said the move furthered the “Sangh Parivar agenda of communal polarisation”.