Recipe row: Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan rejects 'sexist remark' charge, says he was misquoted

Published 29 July 2026 · politics

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) rejected the charge that he had made a sexist remark in connection with his advice

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) rejected the charge that he had made a sexist remark in connection with his advice to mothers about sharing traditional or unique cooking recipes. At a post-Cabinet press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Satheesan took the stand that he was misquoted as exclusively referring to daughters-in-law.

The Chief Minister said he had, in fact, asked mothers to share such recipes with “their children and the person who comes as their son’s wife.” Satheesan asked how can “children” be construed as daughters alone. “I said children. What misogyny is there when I say they and the son’s wife who is the new arrival in a house” be given these recipes, he said.

Satheesan’s remarks, made at the inauguration of the Pampa Literature Festival at Chengannur on Saturday (July 25, 2026), had attracted controversy after he was accused of making a sexist remark and propagating gender stereotypes.

CPI(M) leader and former General Education Minister V. Sivankutty had slammed the Chief Minister for airing such opinions “despite changes being made in school textbooks that everyone should share household chores, regardless of gender.

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