Keralam Governor Om Prakash Mathur inadvertently sparks debate on ‘food purity’ politics

Om Prakash Mathur, who took charge as Keralam Governor, is a veteran BJP leader from Rajasthan. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Keralam’s Governor Om Prakash Mathur, who was sworn in on Friday (October 23, 2026), seemed to have inadvertently stoked a debate over the socially touchy “food purity” politics in the State. Mr. Mathur, who hails from Rajasthan and follows a strict vegetarian diet, banned the cooking of non-vegetarian dishes in the Lok Bhavan kitchen. Lok Bhavan sources clarified that the ban applied only to the official kitchen and Mr. Mathur had not barred his staff from bringing their preferred food from home or outside. Refusing to comment on reports that Mr. Mathur had brought cooks from Rajasthan to rustle up his daily meals, sources stressed he has the right to decide what he ate. Attempt to resurrect food hierarchy: CongressHowever, the Congress has portrayed the Governor’s directive as an attempt to resurrect the Hindutva imposition of food hierarchy, which allegedly sought to place a vegetarian diet followed by so-called “privileged communities” above non-vegetarian fare, which is a staple for minorities and also a significant section of Keralam’s Hindu population.All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal accused Mr. Mathur of seeking to place food, a matter of personal choice and culinary culture, at the centre of Hindutva politics in “secular, progressive and inclusive” Keralam.Mr Venugopal said the Lok Bhavan’s attempt to make vegetarian fare a mandatory choice for visitors and staff was a “first step towards imposing the Hindutva agenda in Kerala”. He sought to link Mr Mathur’s stress on only vegetarian food at the Lok Bhavan to an attempt to portray non-vegetarianism as a marker of impurity and cow vigilantism. He also recalled the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh in 2015 for allegedly stocking beef for consumption in his house. Mr. Venugopal said the order dovetailed politically with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government’s disenfranchisement of crores of voters, mostly those from marginalised sections of Hindu society and minorities, using the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s profoundly contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists as a politically expedient cover. Mr Venugopal alleged that Mr Mathur’s order affronted Kerala’s cultural, religious and culinary diversity. He said Keralam was a coastal State, and fish and meat were staples for a significant section of the population.“Mr Mathur has promulgated the order with little understanding of Keralam’s social and cultural zeitgeist,” he added. Published - October 23, 2026 04:38 pm IST