A decade on, non-veg may be back on Prez menu

With Mr Pranab Mukherjee likely to be the next resident of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, there's going to be some changes in the first household of the country, not the least among which will be the food.

Non-vegetarian dishes had been absent from the Presidential menu for the last 10 years when Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Ms Pratibha Patil were in residence. And that is about to change.

An indication of this was seen during Mr Mukherjee's lunch in the city on Sunday the menu of which included fish, meat and the famous Hyderabadi biryani. In fact, AICC general secre- tary and Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad even suggested that Mr Mukherjee introduce the famous Kashmiri Wazwan cuisine to the Rashtrapati Bhavan menu for the benefit of visiting foreign dignitaries.

Mr Azad told the Presidential candidate that due to the strict vegetarian fare during Dr Kalam and Ms Patil's regime, several foreign delegates, including heads of nations, used to be inconvenienced. He added that with a change of guard at Rashtrapati Bhavan, non-vegetarian dishes could once again feature on the menu.

Mr Azad also offered to send Mr Mukherjee samples of the Kashmiri Wazwan cuisine and if he liked it, it could be included in the Presidential menu.

He added that he used to send Wazwan to Indira and Rajiv Gandhi too.

The lunch was attended by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana, Union minister V. N a r ay a n a sw a m y, Assembly Speaker N. Manohar and former minister Shabbir Ali among others.