Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 24 BJP Keralam president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday defended Governor Om Prakash Mathur amid the controversy over a reported decision to make the Lok Bhavan kitchen strictly vegetarian and accused the Congress of diverting attention from pressing public issues.
In a post on X, Chandrasekhar said it was the prerogative of the occupant of a house, in this case the Governor, to decide the food served according to his culture and preferences.
He asked whether the Congress could similarly insist on serving pork at a “Muslim Malayali’s house”.
“Now, can the Congress party insist that they go to a Muslim Malayalee’s house and ask for pork? It is the prerogative of the occupant of a house, in this case the @KeralaGovernor, who occupies Lok Bhavan, to decide the food served according to his culture and his preferences,” he said.
Chandrasekhar alleged that the Congress was avoiding discussions on the five guarantees and the ‘Puthu Yuga Keralam’ promise, as well as the problems faced by the state’s youth and families affected by medicine shortages.
Instead, it was focusing on the food habits of the new Governor, he said, alleging that this was part of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “fraudulent politics”.
He also criticised the Congress, saying it had become a group of people talking “nonsensical stuff”, and asked what people had gained after 150 days of the V D Satheesan-led government.
The remarks came a day after Mathur, who was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Keralam on Friday, faced criticism from the ruling Congress and opposition CPI(M) over reports that he had directed that non-vegetarian food should not be prepared or served in the Lok Bhavan kitchen.
The two parties accused the Governor of promoting the Sangh Parivar’s agenda.
Congress leader and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal alleged that the decision had gone too far and that the Governor had overstepped his authority by directing that only vegetarian food be prepared in the 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.
(PTI News)
