Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s dietary preferences become a subject of social media discussion

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s dietary choices became a topic of discussion on social media on Sunday.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and former Minister C. Divakaran fueled the controversy by saying that Mr. Vijayan preferred expensive fish over daily catch. He signaled that the anecdote about Mr. Vijayan’s food habits was part of his upcoming autobiography.

Mr. Divakaran recalled the days when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was formed in 2014. [CPI(M)] As the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) Kerala Raksha Yatra entered Thiruvananthapuram, party veteran Anathalavattom organized a lunch for Mr. Vijayan at Anandan’s house in Chirayinkeezhu.

“Anathalavattom was a loyalist of VS Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan was not very fond of having lunch at his house. When he sat down for lunch, Mr. Vijayan inquired about the varieties of fish served. When he found out that it was tuna, Mr. Vijayan got up and left,” Mr. Divakaran told television channels.

Mr Divakaran said the then CPI(M) district secretary Stanley Sathyanesan was agitated. “I consoled him and asked him to serve divination fish the next day when the yatra reaches Kattakada,” he said. Mr. Divakaran said his “joking comments” were not a judgment on Mr. Vijayan’s proletarian background, casual behavior or communist morality. “There is no need to create controversy,” he added.

Anathalavattom’s son Jeeva denied Mr. Divakaran’s account. In a FB post, Mr Jeeva said Mr Vijayan was a gracious guest who enjoyed communal meals prepared and served by his mother. He also noted the food habits of iconic communist leaders. “My mother used to cook for companies like EMS, BT Ranadive (BTR), KR Gouri and VS Achuthanandan. EMS and BTR preferred bland food without salt or spices. EMS had a special fondness for fish cooked in coconut milk, garnished with sliced tomatoes. Comrade Gouri Amma (sic) preferred broken rice porridge and raw bananas with curry. VS made it a habit to eat finger millet porridge served with ripe plantains.” “He brought it,” said Mr. Jeeva wrote.

General Education Minister V. Sivankutty said Mr. Divakaran had added some color to his autobiography. He described Mr. Vijayan as a plain eater who was at least fussy about what was on the table.

Mr. Vijayan had recently recalled the daily privations he faced as a student. “My mother used to do it sometimes orotti (a rice bread I packed for lunch). I mostly stayed hungry. I chose a white shirt and a dhoti as my standard attire so that no one could tell that I had no clothes to change into. “I kept such personal privileges secret and behaved with dignity,” he said.