Ayodhya/Lucknow: A fish feast held during a Congress programme in Ayodhya has turned into a political fight in Uttar Pradesh, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacking Congress state President Ajay Rai and his party accusing the ruling dispensation of targeting the Nishad community over its food habits.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath criticised Rai over the issue and said the episode showed the Congress’s approach towards religious traditions. Yogi also said, “Who asked him to visit Hanumangarhi? Yogi said things changed after his government came to power and claimed that the state had earlier become a “mafia state”. He challenged Yogi and said, “If the chief minister is making these allegations and has a photograph to prove his accusations, let him show it. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “If you host a fish feast in Ayodhya during the holy month of Sawan, it shows that you are trying to present yourself as a champion of secularism while showing intolerance towards Sanatan traditions. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Dutt, who said he was present at the programme, defended the Nishad community’s food habits. The BJP stands for the biggest lying party,” he said.
“When we stand together and intensify the fight, the country’s freedom will be protected. You must have seen the conduct of the Congress state president, who went to Ayodhya to offer prayers at Hanumangarhi and then attended a fish feast. They keep chanting ‘Ram-Ram’; there should be a limit to shamelessness,” he alleged. If he wanted to eat fish, he could have gone outside Ayodhya to do so. This shows the Congress’s double standards. He also attacked Rai over his past, referring to the murder of his brother and alleging that the Congress leader had not spoken against the mafia accused of killing him. I am ready to resign. Other BJP leaders also criticised the Congress UP president’s alleged consumption of non-vegetarian food in the fish feast. We stayed in Ayodhya only for a short time. The Nishad community had organised the event, and they eat fish. Does that mean the BJP is against the Nishad community?
Otherwise, you saw yesterday how Congress leaders insult our heritage. “I myself was present at the programme yesterday.
