Modi slams Opposition for eating meat in Sawan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad — albeit without taking their names — for allegedly eating mutton during the month of Sawan last year, and then releasing a video to “tease” the people of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad — albeit without taking their names — for allegedly eating mutton during the month of Sawan last year, and then releasing a video to “tease” the people of the country.

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Modi, who suggested that eating meat during a period that some followers of Hinduism consider holy, said that this act displayed the “Mughal mentality” of the INDIA bloc leaders.

Addressing an election rally at Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir, Modi said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders did not care about the sentiments of the majority of the country’s people.

“In the month of Sawan, they went to the house of a person who was handed a punishment by a court and is on bail and enjoyed mutton. Not just that, they made a video of it to tease the people of the country,” Modi said.

He was ostensibly referring to a video in which Lalu Yadav and Rahul Gandhi were seen cooking mutton together last year. The former Congress chief also shared the video on his YouTube channel on September 2 last year. The month of Sawan in the Hindu calendar, which falls during the rainy season, runs roughly from late July to late August. Last year, it ended on August 31.

“The people of Congress and INDI alliance do not care about the sentiments of the majority of the people of the country. They enjoy playing with the sentiments of the people,” Modi said. “When Mughals attacked here, they were not satisfied with just defeating the rulers. They found enjoyment in destroying temples and places of worship. In the same way, by showing the video in the month of Sawan, they want to provoke the people of the country with Mughal mentality.”

Modi, however, clarified that neither he nor the law prevents anyone from eating vegetarian or non-vegetarian food whenever they like. “But these people have other intentions — to please their vote banks. People will not forget this,” he said.

He also made an apparent reference to Prasad’s son and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s recent video in which he could be seen eating fish while travelling in a helicopter along with ally VIP leader Mukesh Sahni. “Whom are you trying to please by showing the video of your non-veg food during Navratri and by hurting the people’s sentiments,” Modi said.

Navratri, the nine days leading up to Ram Navmi on April 17, began on April 9.

Modi said that he would be attacked by the Opposition for his remarks but it “is my duty in a democracy to speak up when things become unbearable. I am fulfilling my duty by telling the right aspect of things.”

The Congress hit back at Modi, with party general secretary Jairam Ramesh saying that Modi was providing a new example of his “mindset” every day.

“Unlike the Prime Minister, we have not tracked which leader ate what in which month. Here are the nutrition data points that we are tracking instead: Anaemia is caused by several factors, including iron deficiency, inadequate diet, and other nutrient deficiencies. Between 2015-16 and 2019-21, anaemia in children under 5 increased by nearly 10 percentage points. Among women aged 15 to 19, the prevalence of anaemia increased by 9.2%. In the PM’s home state of Gujarat, a shocking eight out of ten children under five were found to be anaemic,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

“…Every day the Prime Minister provides us with a new example of his sick mindset. The Prime Minister’s non-stop politicking is infantile and tiresome...,” he added.

Amid row over his fish-eating video, Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday said that the video was from April 8, a day before Navarati started.

“I uploaded this video to test the IQ of the BJP and Godi media followers and I was proved right in my thinking. The tweet clearly mentioned “Date” but what do the Andhbhakts know?” Yadav posted on X on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Yadav alleged that Modi always sidesteps from engaging in discussions on issues of the people.

“I have been speaking about jobs, about employment, about inflation for long. He doesn’t give an account for that. PM can say anything he wants but public wants to hear what he did for the people of Bihar. We are demanding an account of things that they did for Bihar in 10 years,” he said. “The PM should talk about key issues rather than raking up frivolous subjects.”