Thiruvananthapuram: A controversy erupted on the very first day of Om Prakash Mathur's tenure as the Governor of Kerala, with the ruling Congress and the opposition CPI(M) accusing him of seeking to impose dietary restrictions after reports that he had directed the Lok Bhavan kitchen to cook only vegetarian food.
The row has turned into a full-blown political confrontation, with allegations of a "Sangh Parivar agenda" on one side and clarifications about personal preference on the other.
Mathur was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Kerala on Friday afternoon at a ceremony in Lok Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram, in the presence of the Kerala High Court Chief Justice and Chief Minister V D Satheesan. Reports of the vegetarian-only directive had surfaced a day earlier, even before he assumed office, and by Friday evening the state had split into sharply divided camps over whether the move was an innocuous personal choice or an overreach of constitutional authority.
According to media reports, Mathur — himself a strict vegetarian — had instructed that non-vegetarian food should neither be prepared nor served in the Lok Bhavan kitchen. The Telegraph reported that the Rajasthan-native Governor had issued the directive to his staff even before reaching Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday evening, providing them with a list of dos and don'ts, and that he had brought cooks from Rajasthan to prepare his food.
A source at Lok Bhavan told the newspaper on the condition of anonymity that Mathur had permitted employees to consume food of their choice but had ordered that non-vegetarian dishes not be cooked in the kitchen — a significant change, since the kitchen had previously served both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food to governors and guests. The source also noted that Mathur's predecessor, Rajendra Arlekar, a Goan native, loved fish.
The political reaction was swift. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal was among the first to raise the issue, alleging that the move was part of an attempt to impose the Sangh Parivar's ideological agenda in Kerala.
In a strongly worded statement, Venugopal said that people in Kerala had traditionally followed both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets, and that any attempt to restrict the food habits Malayalis were accustomed to, or dictate what they should eat, could not be accepted.
Describing the directive as the "first step towards implementing the Sangh Parivar's saffron agenda in Kerala", Venugopal said the Governor was using his authority to curtail individual freedom rather than protect it. Kerala has a diverse food culture and, as a coastal state, abundant fish resources, he said, adding that people were free to choose between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
Restrictions that intrude into food choices and seek to erase the traditional way of life of Keralites, he argued, violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Home Minister and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also criticised the reported instruction, asserting that every citizen had the right to decide what to wear, eat and say. "I do not understand why the Governor would interfere in these matters. This is not right, and he should rectify it," Chennithala said.
From the opposition benches, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the choice of what to eat was a personal matter and that the Governor was free to eat vegetarian food if that was his preference. However, he had no right to insist that everyone at Lok Bhavan follow a vegetarian diet, Govindan said, alleging that the move to exclude non-vegetarian food was part of the Sangh Parivar's agenda and that personal preferences should not be imposed on others.
Lok Bhavan sources, however, maintained that the instruction applied only to the kitchen preparing food exclusively for the Governor and his family and did not cover those meant for staff or visitors. "Staff have a separate kitchen in the residential quarters within the Lok Bhavan estate, where they are free to cook food of their choice. The Governor's instruction was solely about his own food preferences and, as an individual, he has the right to make that choice," a Lok Bhavan source said.
Responding to the reports, sources in the Governor's office said Mathur was a strict vegetarian and had ordered the change for that reason, clarifying that there was no restriction on the food choices of Lok Bhavan employees.
The controversy touches a raw nerve in Kerala, where food — particularly fish and meat — is deeply intertwined with cultural identity across communities. Kerala's cuisine is among the most diverse in the country, and attempts by political or administrative authorities to regulate eating habits have historically provoked fierce resistance.
The state has seen similar flashpoints in the past, including controversies over beef availability and government canteen menus, each of which escalated into broader debates about federalism, personal liberty and cultural autonomy.
Political observers note that the row also reflects the increasingly contested nature of the Governor's office in states ruled by parties opposed to the BJP. In Kerala, the relationship between the Raj Bhavan and the state government has been a site of friction in recent years, and Mathur's appointment was already being watched closely. The kitchen controversy, arriving on day one, has ensured that his tenure begins under scrutiny.
Mathur, who previously served as the Governor of Sikkim, is a veteran politician from Rajasthan with deep roots in the BJP's organisational structure. His swearing-in on Friday was meant to mark a fresh chapter for the state's highest constitutional office; instead, it has opened with a debate that shows no signs of fading.
For now, the facts remain contested. The Governor's camp insists the directive was limited to his personal kitchen, while critics argue that in an institution like Lok Bhavan — where official functions and guests are routinely served from the same kitchen — the line between personal preference and institutional diktat is difficult to draw.
What is not contested is that a routine administrative instruction, or what was meant to be one, has become the first political test of Kerala's new Governor — and the responses it has drawn suggest that every step of his tenure will be closely watched.
(Reporting based on The New Indian Express and NDTV.)