Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has firmly stated that the state government has no intention of controlling citizens’ food choices, following a political storm over meat sale bans imposed by some municipal corporations on Independence Day.
The controversy erupted after municipal bodies in Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombivli, Malegaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Amravati announced that meat shops would remain closed on August 15. Opposition parties strongly criticised the move, with leaders like Jitendra Awhad, Sanjay Raut, and even Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar opposing the decision.
Fadnavis on Wednesday clarified that the decision was not taken by the current state government but was based on a 1988 government resolution issued during the tenure of a previous administration. “The state government has made no such decision. This rule has been in place since 1988, and several municipal corporations have been following it annually. I only learnt about the recent bans through media reports,” he said.
According to Fadnavis, when he asked municipal authorities why they imposed the ban, they cited the 1988 resolution and pointed out that even during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as Chief Minister, similar decisions had been taken. “Ultimately, the government has no interest in deciding what people should eat. People are free to choose their diet. This controversy is being manufactured as if our government took the decision. Such absurdity, like calling vegetarians ‘impotent’, must stop,” he remarked, stressing that his administration is focused on more pressing issues.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar termed such restrictions “wrong” and emphasised that citizens have the right to choose their own diet. “In our state, some people are vegetarian, and some are non-vegetarian. Such bans are not appropriate. Important cities have people from various communities, and while sentiments matter, imposing bans on days like Maharashtra Day, Republic Day, or Independence Day could become problematic,” Pawar said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut launched a scathing attack, questioning whether Maharashtra had become a “prison of bans”. “If you don’t want to eat meat on Independence Day, don’t eat it—but why impose it on others? This is the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, not a vegetarian state. Are we doing this under someone’s pressure? Even during battles, Shivaji Maharaj’s warriors ate meat. You can’t fight wars on rice and ghee alone. Fadnavis is making Maharashtra weak and spineless,” Raut charged.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshvardhan Sapkal accused the BJP of using such directives to divert attention from its historical record. “Independence Day is a national festival, not a BJP event. When the entire nation fought for freedom, BJP’s ideological ancestors sided with the British. To cover up these dark stains, they are now issuing food diktats,” Sapkal alleged.
He further claimed that the BJP’s “One Nation, One Leader” approach seeks to impose uniformity in leadership, clothing, language, and food, thereby eroding India’s unity in diversity. “First, they fuelled Hindu-Muslim tensions, then Maratha-OBC disputes, then Marathi-Hindi divisions, and now this Independence Day meat ban. This is about tightening government control over people’s lives,” Sapkal said.
