Former Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shahid Siddiqui on Monday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena for playing politics over beef and meat, saying no political organisation has the right to impose a ban on the food habits of an individual.
"Let the BJP put a ban on beef and meat, let the BJP give a beef party, let the Shiv Sena sell chicken on roads. This is turning into a politics of beef, Chicken and fish. Thankfully, we have not become a vegetable market but the Parliament has certainly turned into that," Siddiqui told ANI here.
"All this debate on beef is shameful. In India everyone has their eating preferences. There are vegetarians and non-vegetarians and no one has ever forced on the food habits of an individual," he added.
The sale of meat has been banned in the BJP-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat for nine days on account of Jain fasting festival of Paryushan Parva.
A ban on beef in Jammu and Kashmir beef has also grabbed headlines.