Kerala minister Sivankutty walks out of Raj Bhavan event over 'Bharat Mata' portrait; 'serious breach of protocol,' says Governor's office

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala general education minister V Sivankutty on Thursday walked out from a function at the Raj Bhavan as a picture of Bharat mata was kept at the venue.

A subsequent statement from the Raj Bhavan said that the minister's action was a gross violation of protocol and a grave insult to the office of the Governor.

The fresh developments happened a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan flayed the display of pictures of Bharat mata and RSS leaders at Raj Bhavan and even stated that Raj Bhavan's standards should not be lowered to that of RSS sakha.

Sivankutty who walked out of the function later strongly criticised the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.

Sharing the pictures of the function on his X platform, the Governor said, "There is no question of doing away with Bharathambha."

The statement from Raj Bhavan said that the public display of misconduct by the minister openly insulted the Governor personally besides the office of the Governor. The minister did not even bother to inform the Governor about his abrupt exit.

"Unfortunately, the minister who handles the education portfolio has set an unprecedentedly wrong precedent by his misconduct.

Disturbingly the ‘performance’ of the minister was right in front of the disciplined Scouts and Guides who had come to receive the awards from the minister and the governor. Thereby, the minister has insulted the students as well, apart from setting a wrong model before the students. Raj Bhavan views today’s developments with utmost concern," said the statement.

The row over Bharat mata picture started with the government calling off an environment day function scheduled to be held at Raj Bhavan earlier this month citing the Bharatmatha picture at the venue.

The Chief Minister said on Wednesday that the Governor seems to have realised the mistake and decided not to use Bharat mata picture at official functions at Raj Bhavan.