Governor’s gambit: Raj Bhavan turns vegetarian-only zone

TNN | Updated: Nov 20, 2017, 05:59 IST

 

 

 

Governor Purohit has declared the Raj Bhavan a vegetarian-only area, strictly prohibiting any non-vegetarian food

 

CHENNAI : The winds of change have been kicking up a storm on the Raj Bhavan campus ever since new governor Banwarilal Purohit took office on October 6.

First came the news that Purohit was learning Tamil with the help of a private tutor. Then came his public appeal that visitors should not present him with shawls and bouquets.

Having endeared himself to the masses with these opening gambits, Purohit unleashed a political uproar by convening a meeting of officers serving in the Coimbatore region during his visit to the textile city which is a BJP stronghold. Sweeping away protests from opposition parties, Purohit wielded the broom at Tirupur in a bid to further publicise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet theme of Swachh Bharat.

While all this is in the public domain, little is known about the tempest in the Raj Bhavan itself.

Governor Purohit has declared the Raj Bhavan a vegetarian-only area, strictly prohibiting any non-vegetarian food, including the now pricey eggs. "Neither cooking nor eating of non-vegetarian items is allowed in the bungalows attached to the governor. It has been conveyed that those who wish to eat such food must have it outside," an official told TOI.

Most officials staying put in the Raj Bhavan for long periods are not known to be austere. For them, it was an unusual sight when Purohit chose to visit New Delhi, accompanied by just an ADC, instead of travelling with an entourage of personal staff. In fact, he struck off more than half a dozen names from a list given to him by his office, saying that when the governor is making an official visit to Delhi, there is no need for others to needlessly accompany him.

A former governor, on a visit to Tamil Nadu, had a taste of the refreshingly thrifty approach of the new dispensation, on being informed that visits of guests and their stay in the Raj Bhavan could not be for more than five days. The ex-governor, who was on a seven-day visit, had to cut short the trip and return home after five days.

A few days ago, when a very senior minister in the Tamil Nadu cabinet sought an appointment with Purohit to present a bouquet, it was turned down. Perhaps not wishing to waste the bouquet already purchased, the minister sent his personal secretary to the Raj Bhavan, along with it. On being told about his presence, the governor called the personal secretary and had a photograph with him, flummoxing the minister, who is now wondering whether he had shown any disrespect to the governor.