Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala Agriculture Department on Thursady cancelled its planned Environment Day celebration at Raj Bhavan after officials there allegedly insisted on displaying an image of Bharat Mata, commonly used in RSS shakhas, at the event.

The Agriculture Department shifted the programme to the Durbar Hall inside the state secretariat after Raj Bhavan allegedly requested that the event include floral tributes to the Bharat Mata portrait, which is seen as falling in line with the format followed by the RSS.

State Agriculture Minister P Prasad said that the state government respects Bharat Mata, but using an image commonly associated with RSS shakhas for an official function at Raj Bhavan is unconstitutional.

"The programme agenda was prepared by Raj Bhavan, and we accepted it. But yesterday evening, they suddenly added a new item -- paying floral tributes to the portrait of Bharat Mata. This goes against constitutional norms, and that picture is widely used by the RSS," Prasad told PTI Videos.

He said Raj Bhavan, which hosts a constitutional office, should not have used an image that is used exclusively by a particular organisation.

"So we changed the venue of the programme and conducted it in the Durbar Hall inside the Secretariat," Prasad said.

Officials said the intervention from Raj Bhavan came at the last minute, prompting the Agriculture Department to relocate the function. The Environment Day celebration was later held at the Secretariat premises at 11 am on Thursday.

Raj Bhavan has not officially responded to the development immediately.