A political row has erupted in Kerala after the state government boycotted an event at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday, objecting to a portrait of Bharat Mata on display there, The Indian Express reported.

The state government claimed that the Bharat Mata portrait at the central hall of the governor’s residence was “one that is used by RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]”.

Bharat Mata is a personification of India as a mother goddess. The iconography is widely used by Hindu nationalists, and is frequently criticised for propagating a Hindu-centric image of nationhood.

The incident took place during an event organised by the state agriculture department for World Environment Day at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday, with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the chief guest, according to The Indian Express.

During a review of the preparations for the event, government officials noticed that a picture of the Bharat Mata displayed at the central hall of the governor’s residence was similar to the one used by the RSS.

Subsequently, Communist Party of India leader and state Agriculture Minister P Prasad was notified about the image and event was moved to the darbar hall of the state secretariat, The Indian Express reported. The Communist Party of India is part of the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front.

“The picture of Bharat Mata displayed at the venue is one that is used by RSS,” the newspaper quoted Prasad as having told reporters. “A seat of a constitutional body should not use that. Constitutionally, it is not proper to use that picture at a government function.”

Prasad claimed that Arlekar insisted on using the image. “But we could not agree with that decision,” the minister said. “So the government function was shifted out of Raj Bhavan.”

The Communist Party of India leader noted that no image of Bharat Mata had ever been acknowledged as the official or authorised version by the Constitution or any of the governments in power since independence, The Hindu reported.

The minister also claimed that the Bharat Mata image in the Raj Bhavan did not carry an Indian flag, but that of a political organisation, and hence could not be honoured during a government event.

The governor, addressing another function at the Raj Bhavan later in the day, noted that Prasad wanted the image of the Bharat Mata to be removed from the stage.

“I informed them that we cannot remove Bharat Mata,” The Indian Express quoted him as having said. “Bharat Mata cannot be kept away…Whatever be the pressure from whichever quarters, there will be no compromise whatsoever on Bharat Mata.”

On Saturday, the Communist Party of India hoisted the national flag and planted saplings in protest against the usage of the Bharat Mata image in the Raj Bhavan, PTI reported.

Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam also asked whether the Constitution or the policies of the RSS was more important for Arelkar. Hoisting the national flag, Viswam said that there was “no Bharat Mata other than this”.

Any other attempt to impose another concept of Bharat Mata was “unconstitutional” and “anti-national”, he added.

Also read: How 'Bharat Mata' became the code word for a theocratic Hindu state