Strongly condemning the police raid at Kerala House in New Delhi to verify if beef was served in its canteen, political parties in West Bengal on Tuesday slammed the Narendra Modi-led central government for interfering with the people's fundamental rights.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, strongly condemning what happened at the Kerala House, said in a tweet that it was "an unwise and unhealthy attempt to curb fundamental rights of people".
In the same vein, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Modi government was controlled by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and trying to dictate what people can eat.
"The BJP and its Hindutva wings cannot dictate what the people can eat what cannot. The unfortunate things is this government is not controlled from Delhi but from Nagpur (RSS headquarters)," he said.
Condemning the raid, Chowdhury demanded stringent action against those involved in the police action.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee too slammed the Modi government over the issue.
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"When people are dying of starvation, and fanners are committing suicide, we have the central government more concerned about what people are eating. We strongly condemn this police action which is nothing but an assault on the people's fundamental rights," said the Marxist leader.
Some 20 policemen entered Kerala House on Monday following a complaint that it was serving beef. Kerala House officials said it was buffalo meat but nevertheless took it off their menu for some time.
While the raid has come under severe criticism, the Delhi Police has maintained that their entry into Kerala House was no raid and they had violated no law.