Representative image. Ramchandra9, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The dispute opens the new Governor's term in a state where the Governor's relationship with the elected government has often been tense. It also brings the question of food choice into public debate in Kerala, where both sides say personal freedom is what is at stake.
Kerala Governor Om Prakash Mathur began his term on Friday, 23 October 2026, facing a political dispute over food. He has reportedly told the kitchen at Lok Bhavan, the Governor’s official residence in Thiruvananthapuram, not to cook or serve non-vegetarian food. Leaders of the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), objected the same day, while officials at Lok Bhavan said the instruction covers only the kitchen that prepares the Governor’s own meals, the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
No written order has been made public, and every outlet that covered the dispute has described the instruction as reported. Lok Bhavan has not issued a press release, and its response so far has come from officials speaking without being named.
What the Kerala Governor reportedly asked the Lok Bhavan kitchen to do
The instruction is that meat and fish should not be prepared in the Lok Bhavan kitchen. Lok Bhavan sources told PTI that Mathur is a strict vegetarian and that the kitchen in question cooks for him, a few of his personal staff and a small number of officials. Employees who bring non-vegetarian food from home or eat outside face no restriction, the same sources said.
The Federal, a news website, quoted Lok Bhavan sources as saying the directive did not amount to a ban on non-vegetarian food. Officials also pointed out that past Governors had allowed fish and meat in the kitchen, according to PTI, which means the change is tied to the new occupant rather than to a standing rule.
When the instruction was given is not settled. PTI reported that it came on Thursday, 22 October, a day before Mathur took office. Other outlets said it came hours before or soon after the swearing-in.
What Congress and CPI(M) leaders said about the order
K.C. Venugopal, general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC, the Congress party’s national body) and the MP for Alappuzha, was the first to object, in a Facebook post. He said the move intrudes on people’s freedom to choose their food and accused the Kerala Governor of pursuing the agenda of the Sangh Parivar, the network of organisations linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “Let us eat what we want to eat,” he wrote, according to The Week. He said Mathur was free to be vegetarian himself but should not impose that on a kitchen staffed by Keralites, and asked him to withdraw the instruction.
Ramesh Chennithala, the state’s Home Minister and a Congress leader, called it a question of personal freedom. “Every citizen has the right to decide what to wear, what to eat and what to say,” he said, the news website ETV Bharat reported. He added that he is a vegetarian himself but has never asked his wife, who is not, to change her diet, and said the Governor should correct the decision.
From the CPI(M), which is in opposition in the state, state secretary M.V. Govindan said Indians have a democratic right to choose between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, and alleged that the Sangh Parivar was turning food into a tool for communal division, PTI reported. Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas told The Federal that people were free to eat what they liked but should not insist that everyone else eat the same.
The Lok Bhavan response, side by side with the objections
The two sides describe the Kerala Governor’s instruction very differently. This table sets out what each has said on record so far.
| Question | Lok Bhavan sources (via PTI, The Federal) | Congress and CPI(M) leaders |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Only the kitchen cooking the Governor’s meals | An attempt to restrict what Keralites eat |
| Staff food | No restriction; staff can bring their own food | Kitchen is staffed by Keralites and should not be bound by his diet |
| Reason | The Governor is a strict vegetarian | Linked to the Sangh Parivar’s agenda, they allege |
| Is it a ban? | Not a ban on non-vegetarian food | Violates the freedom to choose food, they say |
No statement from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Kerala or nationally, was found in the coverage reviewed by NewsPlainly. Om Prakash Mathur himself has not spoken publicly on the matter. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, who attended the swearing-in, has not commented publicly either.
Who Om Prakash Mathur is and how he came to Kerala
Mathur, a former BJP national vice-president and two-term Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, was Governor of Sikkim before this posting. President Droupadi Murmu named him Kerala’s Governor on 12 October as part of a reshuffle across six states, Onmanorama reported. He replaced Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who moved to Tamil Nadu. Arlekar had said in interviews that he liked Kerala food because it reminded him of the cooking of his home state, Goa, Deccan Chronicle noted in its report on the dispute.
Mathur’s own political career was built largely in Rajasthan, where he was born in Pali district. He was the BJP’s state president there in 2008 and 2009 and later a national general secretary and vice-president of the party, before being appointed to Sikkim in July 2024.
Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administered the oath at Lok Bhavan on 23 October, with the Chief Minister present. Mathur is the 29th Governor of the state, which is now officially called Keralam.
The building he moved into was called Raj Bhavan until 1 December 2025. It was renamed Lok Bhavan, meaning people’s house, after a Union Home Ministry order asked all Raj Bhavans to change their names; Arlekar described it at the time as a move away from a colonial mindset.
How the dispute unfolded
- 12 October 2026: President names Mathur Governor of Kerala.
- 22 October: Kitchen instruction given, according to PTI.
- 23 October, midday: Mathur sworn in at Lok Bhavan.
- 23 October, afternoon: Venugopal’s post; Chennithala and Govindan respond; Lok Bhavan sources explain the scope.
- 24 October: John Brittas and others add their views; no written order released.
Whether the Kerala Governor’s office will put out a formal statement, and whether the instruction will change, has not been said. Lok Bhavan, unlike a ministry, does not routinely publish internal household instructions.
Frequently asked questions
Did the Kerala Governor ban non-vegetarian food at Lok Bhavan?
He reportedly told the Lok Bhavan kitchen not to cook it. Lok Bhavan sources told PTI it applies only to the kitchen preparing his meals and is not a ban on staff food.
Who objected to the order?
Congress leaders K.C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan and CPI(M) MP John Brittas.
When did Om Prakash Mathur become Kerala Governor?
He was sworn in on 23 October 2026 by Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen, after being named on 12 October.