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

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

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and former Minister C. Divakaran sparked the debate by quipping that Mr. Vijayan preferred pricey fish over the day’s common place catch. He signalled that the anecdote about Mr. Vijayan’s food habits was part of his upcoming autobiography.

Mr. Divakaran harked back to 2014, when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] arranged a lunch for Mr. Vijayan at the residence of the late party veteran Anathalavattom Anandan in Chirayinkeezhu as the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) Kerala Raksha Yatra entered Thiruvananthapuram.

“Anathalavattom was a fervent V.S. Achuthanandan loyalist, and Mr. Vijayan was not keen on lunching at his house. When he sat down for lunch, Mr. Vijayan asked about the variety of the fish served. When he learned 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 perturbed. “I consoled him and requested him to serve seer fish when the yatra reached Kattakada the next day,” he claimed. Mr. Divakaran said his “jocular comments” were no judgment on Mr. Vijayan’s proletarian past, his everyman conduct, or his communist ethos. “There’s no need to stir a controversy,” he added.

Jeeva, son of Anathalavattom, repudiated Mr. Divakaran’s narrative. In an FB post, Mr. Jeeva said Mr. Vijayan was a gracious guest who relished the common fare his mother had prepared and served. He also drew attention to the food habits of iconic communist leaders. “My mother has cooked for the likes of EMS, B.T. Ranadive (BTR), K.R. Gouri and V.S. Achuthanandan. EMS and BTR preferred bland food sans salt or spices. EMS had a special fondness for fish stewed in coconut milk, garnished with sliced tomatoes. Comrade Gouri Amma (sic) preferred broken rice gruel and curried raw plantains. VS had a habitual liking for finger millet porridge served with ripe plantains,” Mr. Jeeva wrote.

General Education Minister V. Sivankutty said Mr. Divakaran had just added some spice to his autobiography. He termed Mr. Vijayan a spartan eater who was least finicky about what was on the table.

Mr. Vijayan had recently recalled the daily deprivations he had faced as a student. “My mother sometimes made orotti (a bread made of rice), which I packed for lunch. Mostly, I went hungry. I chose a white shirt and a dhoti as my standard wear, so no one would know that I lacked dresses for change. I kept such personal privations private and conducted myself with dignity,” he said.