Lawmakers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), which leads Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front, enjoyed a beef meal at the assembly canteen before heading for a special assembly session to discuss the centre's notification on the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, IANS has reported.

According to an employee of the canteen, who was quoted by IANS, beef is usually served only after 11am on normal days. "But today, with the session devoted to discussing the beef issue, we brought 10 kg beef early in the morning. A good number of MLAs had beef fry before the session," the employee said.

"We ate beef to register our protest. We want to tell the centre that nobody can tell us what we should eat," said Pratibha Hari, Member of Legislative Assembly, CPI-M.

The special session later passed a resolution criticising the union government’s recent notification on cattle trade, calling it a “blatant violation of the rights of individuals to eat what they wish. It will hugely affect the agrarian society," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister said that cattle upkeep and slaughter came under the purview of the states and the centre has no right to dictate terms. Kerala Assembly may not be able to pass a unanimous resolution against the notification as the lone Bharatiya Janata Party MLA O Rajagopal is unlikely to vote against the new rules.