In the ongoing war of words between Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath, who was recently in Bengaluru for a BJP political rally, the CM from the southern state has hit back at the priest-turned-politician who asked him to prove his Hindu credentials.

“A lot of Hindus eat beef. If I want to eat, I will, who are they to tell me not to consume beef. I don’t eat beef only because I don’t like to. He should read what Swami Vivekananda said about cow slaughter before preaching us,” Siddaramaiah said, according to TOI.

Siddaramaiah also questioned Yogi’s own credentials in tending to the cow before attacking him, and tweeted “Has Yogi Adityanath, who is preaching us about conservation of cows, ever grazed cows? I have reared cows, grazed them and cleaned dung. He does not have any moral authority to speak on the issue.”

Siddaramaiah was responding to Yogi, who had said in his rally earlier, “When we were in power in Karnataka, we had enacted a law prohibiting cow slaughter. The Congress government as soon as it came to power, repealed that law. The cow is a very scared animal to Hindus. If Siddaramaiah is a Hindu and talks of Hindutva, he shouldn’t allow cow slaughter.”

KPCC Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao however took a softer stand and tweeted, “Siddaramaiah or the Congress has never promoted beef-eating. Our Constitution and our laws allow people to eat food of their choice. Stop dividing India on religion, caste, diet, culture, practice and dress code.”

Yogi Adityanath was in Bengaluru campaigning for the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections in Karnataka and participated in the Parivartana Yatra which started on November 2. “In the past five years, the Congress has pushed Karnataka backwards. Karnataka needs to benefit from the development programmes of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. The youth, farmers and cities like Bengaluru need these programmes, and for this Karnataka needs a BJP government,’’ he had said.