Om Prakash Mathur sworn in as 29th Governor of Keralam, sparks row over vegetarian-only kitchen at Lok Bhavan

Om Prakash Mathur has sworn in as the 29th Governor of Keralam at Lok Bhavan here on Thursday (October 23). The swearing-in ceremony for Mathur was held at the Lok Bhavan Auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram. Mathur administered the oath of office in front of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Keralam and Justice Soumen Sen. He had previously served as the Governor of Sikkim.

State and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and Keralam Minister and State Congress chief Sunny Joseph welcomed his appointment, describing it as a proud occasion. "The swearing-in ceremony was conducted in a very pleasant mood, and it was well attended, along with the Chief Minister and the Chief Justice. Almost all the ministers were there; our MLAs were there. It was a very happy occasion to welcome the new governor to the beautiful state of Kerala, God's own country. We have strongly and warmly welcomed the new governor. And we are happy to attend the function," Joseph told ANI.

Row over vegetarian-only Lok Bhavan kitchen

After becoming the Governor of the Keralam, a row erupted following his instruction to allow only vegetarian food at Lok Bhavan. In response, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal came down heavily on Friday on reports that new Kerala Governor Om Prakash Mathur had decided to make the Lok Bhavan kitchen strictly vegetarian, calling it a reflection of the “unconstitutional interests” of the Sangh Parivar.

"A person holding a constitutional office is duty-bound to protect the right to decide what to eat and how to live. But the Governor was insisting that others follow his own food habits. This amounted to misuse of authority to curtail individual freedom," Venugopal said.

However, Lok Bhavan sources clarified that the restriction applied only to the Governor’s own kitchen, and that Lok Bhavan staff faced no curbs on consuming non-vegetarian food. "Since the new Governor follows a pure vegetarian diet an oral instruction was given to avoid cooking non-vegetarian food in the 'Governor's kitchen' where food is cooked mostly for the Governor and his family members only," Lok Bhavan sources said.

Sections of the local media had reported on Thursday that Mathur, who took charge as Governor on Friday, had instructed that non-vegetarian dishes not be prepared or served in the Lok Bhavan kitchen.