No right to dictate our food: Bengal BJP chief rejects Dhirendra Shastri's veg call

West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya on Monday pushed back against Bageshwar Dham chief Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's appeal to Bengalis to avoid non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja, saying no religious figure or political party could dictate what people in the state should eat or wear.Bhattacharya sought to assure Bengalis that food choices were a matter of personal freedom and that West Bengal's traditional food habits could not be changed at the behest of a visiting religious figure.

"We eat what we eat," he said." What one eats or wears is a personal choice. Bengal's food culture is diverse, and everyone has the freedom to follow their own preferences. Won't Bengalis have fish or mutton? Even Swami Vivekananda approved of it. No saint, leader, or anyone else has the right to decide what you should eat. Personal choice must remain personal," Bhattacharya said. During his recent visit to Howrah, Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, had appealed to people to avoid non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja and described those who consume it during the festive season as pakhandis (hypocrites).

Responding to the remarks, Bhattacharya said Shastri had the right to advocate vegetarianism, but his views could not be imposed on Bengali society." We cannot say much about a saintly figure. His kathas are famous across the country and hundreds of thousands of people went to Howrah to listen to him. Anyone can advocate for vegetarianism and that doesn't make it a crime or a sin. However, if someone uses a word like hypocrite, we do not endorse that," he said.Bhattacharya said traditional Bengali food practices included non-vegetarian offerings and meals during religious festivals.

"I am a political worker. What a sadhu says here or a maulvi says there – what does that have to do with us?" he said, adding that Durga Puja was approaching and Bengalis traditionally eat luchi (poori) on Ashtami and kochi patha (goat meat) on Navami." Here, goat meat is offered as an offering to Maa Kali," Bhattacharya said, arguing that West Bengal's religious traditions themselves do not conform to a blanket vegetarian prescription.

The remarks came days after Shastri's visit to West Bengal, where he held religious programmes across the state. His visit had also acquired political overtones, with the Bageshwar Dham chief able to hold programmes under the BJP government despite allegations that he had faced difficulties in obtaining permission during the previous Trinamool Congress regime.Before Shastri's avoid 'non-veg during Durga Puja' call, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) urged Durga Puja organisers in West Bengal to preserve traditional practices and keep non-vegetarian food away from pandals.

But, the outfit clarified that it was not seeking a ban on non-vegetarian food.Bhattacharya's intervention makes clear that the BJP government in West Bengal does not endorse any blanket prescription on vegetarianism during Durga Puja.State minister Dilip Ghosh echoed Bhattacharya's remarks, saying that offering meat to Goddess Kali has been a long-standing tradition for decades." The situation in Bengal is different.

People here are devotees of Goddess Kali, and animal sacrifices are offered to Her, as well as to many other deities. Sacrifices are even offered to Goddess Durga on Navami, and the meat is consumed as prasad. Fish is even offered to the deity as prasad. This is a long-standing tradition that has persisted for ages," he said.SANJEEV SANYAL REACTS TO SHASTRI'S VEG CALLNoted economist Sanjeev Sanyal also weighed in on the controversy without naming Shastri.

In a post on X, Sanyal said meat was "core to Shakta Hinduism" and was offered to Maa Durga and Maa Kali as part of ancient rituals. "The prasad eaten by the devotees on NavamiDasami at Durga Puja is meat. Any interference in this sacred ritual will not be tolerated," he said.The controversy has opened a wider debate in West Bengal over the intersection of religious observance, personal food choices and the state's distinctive cultural traditions, where fish and meat have long formed an integral part of the Bengali diet.- EndsPublished By: Prateek ChakrabortyPublished On: Sep 8, 2026 09:45 IST