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Didn’t eat meat before temple visit: Siddaramaiah amid row
He added that eating or not-eating meat was not “at all relevant” and an issue which had no good or bad impact on the society.
After being slammed by Bharatiya Janata Party for visiting a temple after eating non-vegetarian food, Leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah on Tuesday denied the accusations.
The former chief minister said that the BJP was trying to flare up the alleged meat-eating controversy which was a “non-issue” and to deflect attention away from other important topics.
“Is it (eating meat) an issue? In society, eating meat or not is a personal issue. It is a food habit. I eat meat and vegetarian food...it is my habit. Some don’t eat (meat), that is their habit,” Siddaramaiah said.
He added that eating or not-eating meat was not “at all relevant” and an issue which had no good or bad impact on the society.
The statements come almost a week after Siddaramaiah’s visit to Kodagu district, about 225 km from Bengaluru, where protesters threw eggs at his convoy and waved posters of Hindutva idealogue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar which has since snowballed into a larger controversy between the two main national parties in the state ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.
“According to me it is not at all an issue. Many go (to temples) without eating meat and many go after eating. At many places meat is offered to deities. To tell you the truth I had not eaten meat that day. I said what I have subsequently for the sake of argument. Though there was chicken curry, I ate only bamboo shoot curry and ‘akki rotti’ (rice roti),” he was reported as saying by PTI .
The BJP had previously said that Siddaramaiah allegedly entered the Basaveshwara temple in Kodlipet in Kodagu on August 18 after consuming meat, which they claim has hurt religious sentiments.
Meanwhile, the BJP legislator from Bijapur city (Vijayapura) Basanagouda Patil (Yatnal) on Tuesday challenged Siddaramaiah to consume pork and then enter a mosque. “If you, Siddaramaiah, have the guts, eat pork and visit a mosque.” Yatnal said.
BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu Prathap Simha posed the same question to Siddaramaiah.
“Do you eat pork and go to the mosque? MP @mepratap asked. I have never eaten pork in my life, I don’t want to eat pork. As far as I know there is no such restriction in the mosque. If necessary, let Prathap Simha eat pork and go,” Siddaramaiah responded via tweet.
Siddaramaiah also said that he eats only chicken and mutton and no other meat but added that he is not opposed to anyone eating other meats as it was their personal choice and food habit.
