Barely an hour after oath, Venugopal takes on Kerala Governor over food diktat

Thiruvananthapuram Oct 23
Barely an hour after Om Prakash Mathur was sworn in as Kerala Governor on Friday, Congress MP and General Secretary K.C. Venugopal launched a sharp attack on him over a reported directive that meat and fish should not be cooked in the Lok Bhavan kitchen.

Calling the move an intrusion into food freedom, Venugopal said the Governor had gone too far without understanding Kerala's social and cultural traditions.

"Those who snatched votes and struck at the very roots of a citizen's democratic rights are now preparing to take away food freedom as well,” Venugopal said in a social media post.

Mathur, who was serving as the Governor of Sikkim, was sworn in as Kerala's 29th Governor at the Raj Bhavan here on Friday.

Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administered the oath in the presence of Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, ministers and elected representatives.

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan was absent.

The controversy over the reported dietary directive thus surfaced almost immediately after Mathur formally assumed office.

Venugopal said Kerala had a diverse food culture, with vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets forming part of everyday life.

As a coastal state with abundant fish resources, Kerala had a long tradition of consuming fish and other non-vegetarian food, he said.

"Any attempt to restrict the food habits of Malayalis or dictate what they should eat from now on cannot be accepted," he said.

The Congress leader said the Governor was free to follow his own vegetarian diet, but it was unacceptable to insist that the Lok Bhavan kitchen, which also serves employees from Kerala, should operate according to his personal preferences.

He alleged that such restrictions would undermine individual freedom and violate fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Venugopal described the reported directive as a continuation of what he called the unconstitutional interests of the Sangh Parivar and alleged that it was an attempt to introduce the saffron agenda in Kerala.

He warned that policies imposed at Lok Bhavan could spread to other institutions and gradually become a means of imposing uniformity on people's lifestyles.

"Food freedom is the right of every individual. The Governor of Kerala must withdraw from any action that curtails this freedom," Venugopal said.

He added that a person occupying a constitutional office should remember that the Constitution also protects people's freedom to decide what they eat and how they live.