'Bengalis will eat whatever they want': Bengal BJP chief rejects Bageshwar Baba's meat diktat
Times of India | 8 September 2026
KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Monday rejected self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri’s appeal asking Bengalis to give up non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja, saying no religious figure visiting the state could dictate what people should eat or wear.
Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, had described those consuming non-vegetarian food during the festive period as “pakhandis” (heretics) and urged them to stop the practice.
Reacting to the remarks, Bhattacharya said Bengali food habits and traditions could not be altered at the behest of someone from outside the state.
“Let me live the way I want to. Bengalis will eat what they have been eating. Can Bengalis not eat fish and meat? Swami Vivekananda has said it. Who is above him?” Bhattacharya said.
“Here, goat meat is offered as an offering to Maa Kali,” he added.
According to PTI, the BJP state president pointed to the long-standing tradition of eating ‘luchi’ (puris) on Ashtami and goat meat on Navami, saying there was no question of asking people to abandon these practices.
“We generally eat ‘luchi’ on Ashtami and goat meat on Navami. We will continue to do that. Nobody can tell the people of West Bengal what they should eat,” he said.
Shastri’s remarks have sparked a debate in West Bengal, where food, religion and cultural traditions have historically coexisted without always adhering to a strictly vegetarian religious framework.
The controversy followed Shastri’s recent visit to West Bengal, during which he appealed to people to avoid non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja and termed those who consumed it during the festival as heretics.
His visit also acquired political overtones as he was able to hold religious programmes across the state under the BJP government, despite allegedly facing difficulties in obtaining permission during the previous Trinamool Congress regime.
However, the BJP’s state leadership has distanced itself from any prescription that could be seen as an attempt to dictate Bengal’s traditional food habits.
Bhattacharya said he respected Shastri as a religious figure but maintained that his personal views could not be imposed on Bengali society.
“A saint or a doctor may have the right to advise people to become vegetarian. But nobody coming from outside can sit in Bengal and decide who will eat what and who will wear what,” he said.
Bhattacharya also stressed that Shastri’s remarks represented his personal views.
The BJP leader invoked Swami Vivekananda and Bengal’s religious traditions to reinforce his argument, referring to the practice of offering goat meat to Goddess Kali at several temples in the state.
His comments come in a state where fish and meat are integral to the traditional Bengali diet and where Durga Puja has historically been marked by diverse customs across communities and regions.
Speaking on the issue without naming anyone, noted economist Sanjeev Sanyal said in a social media post, “Meat is core to Shakta Hinduism. It is offered to Maa Durga and Maa Kali as part of the ancient rituals. The prasad eaten by the devotees on Navami/Dasami at Durga Puja is meat. Any interference in this sacred ritual will not be tolerated.”
PTI reported that Bhattacharya also commented on another controversy surrounding Durga Puja, involving a West Bengal government advertisement that depicted Goddess Durga with 11 hands.
The BJP state chief said the issue should not be turned into a political controversy if it was merely a “possible technical or printing error by the advertising agency”, and advised that the mistake simply be corrected.
The remarks come as the BJP seeks to expand its political footprint in West Bengal by combining its Hindutva plank with appeals to Bengali cultural identity. Bhattacharya’s intervention seeks to distinguish religious faith from Bengal’s distinctive cultural practices, while signalling that the state BJP leadership does not endorse attempts to prescribe food habits to the people.