Bangalore, August 22: Karnataka BJP leaders target top Congress official Siddaramaiah for going to a temple during his recent visit to Kodagu district after eating non-vegetarian food, and accused him of hurting people religious feelings.
It came even as the former chief minister tried to downplay the issue and assert his right to choice of food, while questioning whether God had prescribed food when visiting temples.
He, however, gave no details about the food eaten before visiting the Kodagu district temple.
Siddaramaiah visiting the Basaveshwara temple in Kodlipet after allegedly eating non-vegetarian food sparked controversy.
BJP Senior MP Basanagouda Patil Yatnal suggested that local temple traditions should be followed if one wants to visit shrines, and thus respect the feelings of devotees.
“Siddaramaiah or whoever it is should not hurt the feelings of the devotees. If you (Siddaramaiah) have guts, eat pork and visit a mosque,” he challenged.
Accusing Siddaramaiah of trying to hurt the feelings of the people, MP Mysuru-Kodagu Pratap Simha, pointed to an earlier incident by alleging that as the then chief minister, he offered customary floral tributes to the goddess Chamundeshwari, the ruling deity of Mysuru, during the Dasara ‘jamboo savari’ procession, after eating non-vegetarian food.
“He did this in 2017, I witnessed it… after that he lost power and couldn’t offer floral tributes from next year,” Simha said, then that he addressed Siddaramaiah as “Siddu Sultan” and accused him of appeasement. Politics.
BJP State Vice Chairman BY Vijayendra targeting Siddaramaiah said people can have freedom to choose their food but there is culture and tradition in southern state and people here respect and follow certain religious practices.
“Those in important positions should not behave or make statements that hurt people’s feelings,” he said.
Siddaramaiah, the opposition leader in the state assembly, said on Sunday he was not a vegetarian and that was his eating habit, and wondered if God had said what to eat and what do not eat before visiting the temples.
“I had lunch at a guest house…Did God prescribe any specific food?…It seems that one can eat meat at night and visit temples the next morning, but should not visit a temple on the same evening,” he said. noticed.
Meanwhile, in reaction to the BJP attack, former MLC and Congress leader in Kodagu district, Veena Acchaiah, said Siddaramaiah had no non-vegetarian food on the day of her temple visit. .
“Yes, there was chicken curry. But Siddaramaiah had Coorg’s special bamboo shoot curry and akki rotti,” she said.
In defense of his father, Siddarmaiah’s son and Congressman Yatindra Siddaramaiah said the BJP was creating unnecessary trouble and asserted that everyone had the right to choose their food.
State Congress Speaker Dhruvanarayan said the ruling party was trying to cover up its failures by raising trivial issues, instead of focusing on people’s concerns.
He said the BJP was trying to slander Siddaramaiah with fake propaganda because they feared his popularity.
Earlier too, Siddarmaiah as CM had been in the midst of a similar controversy in 2017, when he allegedly visited the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara temple in Dharmasthala of Dakshina Kannada district after consuming a meal of fish chips and country chicken.
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