Bangaluru: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath criticised the assertion of his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah that he was also a Hindu.

Addressing an election rally in Bengaluru as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Parivarthana Yatra here on Sunday, Mr. Adityanath challenged Mr. Siddaramaiah to prove his Hindu credentials by banning cow slaughter.

Raking up the contentious issue of beef ban, Mr. Adityanath said Siddaramaiah couldn’t claim to be a Hindu and also promote beef eating. “When we were in power in Karnataka, we had enacted a law prohibiting cow slaughter.

The Congress governmentm as soon as it came to power, repealed that law. The cow is a very scared animal to Hindus. If Siddaramaiah is a Hindu and talks of Hindutva, he shouldn’t allow cow slaughter,” he said, challenging the Chief Minister to prove his Hindu credentials.

“Like their leader Rahul Gandhi who visited temples during Gujarat elections, Siddaramaiah also now remembers that he is a Hindu,” he added. Mr. Adityanath said that Karnataka was the land of ‘Bhajarangabali Hanuman’, who helped Lord Ram and Sita to unite, and remarked that it was time for a BJP government again in the land visited by Lord Ram.

Mr. Adityanath had made the same association to Ramayana, when he addressed a similar election rally at Hubballi on December 22.

Pitching Karnataka as the land of Lord Hanuman, he had provocatively asked people to choose between those worshipping Lord Hanuman and those of Tipu Sultan, referring to Tipu Jayanthi celebrations by the State government.

He said there was a complete breakdown of law and order in the state as there were murders of over 20 Hindu activists.

“For the overall development of the State it is crucial to have governments with the same ideology and party at both the Centre and the State, which is also why people must elect BJP,” he added.