Bengaluru : Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the BJP and other saffron outfits cannot stop him if he chose to eat beef or visit hair salons on Tuesdays.

Addressing the office-bearers of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress during the State general body meeting in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah attacked the BJP, the RSS and the fringe outfits for creating an atmosphere of rising intolerance and fear in society.

“I haven’t eaten beef. But during the discussion pertaining to the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Prevention of Cattle bill, I had said I will consume beef if I wanted to. Who are you (BJP) to stop me from doing so? It is my food habit – nobody gets to have a say on the matter.”

He said it was baffling that the communal forces had made attempts to shut down hair salons on Tuesdays as it was considered to be “inauspicious” to visit them on that day.

“They say we shouldn’t go to the salon on Tuesdays. But I am of the belief that Tuesday is an auspicious day. I go to the salon on Tuesdays. This is how they are trying to snatch the rights of others,” he added.

He asked the Youth Congress leaders and workers to draw up an action plan to combat the communal forces and their hidden agendas and said that he would extend complete support to the organisation. The Youth Congress should “expose” the BJP’s agenda.

Not only is the saffron brigade effecting polarisation, it is also creating inequality, he said.

Recounting the recent atrocities, including the Dadri lynching and the burning of two dalit children, killings of M M Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, Siddaramaiah attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking action against his Cabinet colleague V K Singh for his controversial comment on the killing of two children of a Dalit family in Haryana.

Taking a dig at BJP leader K S Eshwarappa, Siddaramaiah said that while he had started the ‘Ahinda’ movement, the former had taken cue from him and had started the ‘Hinda’ movement.

Indian Youth Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja urged Siddaramaiah to entrust more responsibilities to the Youth Congress leaders.