West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said people have the constitutional freedom to choose their food habits and religious practices, in an apparent response to godman Dhirendra Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, over his purported remarks on Bengalis eating non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja.

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Speaking at a summit organised by a private news channel on Saturday (September 12, 2026), Mr. Adhikari said people were free to follow the religious practices of their choice, and that nobody should be subjected to abuse for such personal decisions.

“Dharma gurus (Religious leaders) of different faiths express their views. It’s for people to decide whether they want to accept them or not. Our great Constitution, written by Babasaheb Ambedkar, has given you the freedom,” he said.

Referring to his own food habits, Mr. Adhikari said he had offered prayers at the Kalighat temple here on the occasion of Kaushiki Amavasya on Thursday (September 10) and subsequently had ‘prasad’ comprising fish head and Basanti pulao.

“On the day of Kaushiki Amavasya, I offered prayers to Maa Kali at Kalighat. After that, I had Basanti pulao with fish, including its head, which had been offered to the goddess,” he said.

The Chief Minister also said he would visit the Baghbazar Gaudiya Math on September 19 on the occasion of Radha Ashtami, where he would have ‘satvik’ (pure vegetarian) food.

“On Radh Ashtami, I have been invited to Baghbazar Gaudiya Math, where I will go and accept ‘satvik’ food,” he said.

Mr. Adhikari said people had the right to follow different religious traditions and questioned the practice of targeting or abusing individuals over their food choices.

“We have the right to follow Vaishnav traditions or other traditions. This right has been given to us by our religion and also by the Constitution. But what kind of right or freedom of speech is it to target someone, make videos around them and hurl obscene abuses at them?” he asked.

The Chief Minister’s remarks came amid a controversy over comments by Bageshwar Baba, who had described non-vegetarian food as “dirty” and called for restrictions on its consumption during Durga Puja.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday (August 1, 2026) assured exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin of security in the State, saying the “days of threats are over”.

Sharing the stage with Ms. Nasrin at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan at an event that marked the writer’s return to the city after 19 years, Ms. Adhikari said: “You are most welcome to Bengal. Please come here whenever you want and as many times as you wish. Your safety is my responsibility.”

Ms. Nasrin was exiled from Bangladesh in 1994 over her writings after which she started living in Europe and then in Kolkata. But she had to leave Kolkata in November 2007, when violence erupted in the city after some organisations called for action against the author over her books. The violence reached such alarming proportions that the Army had to be deployed in the city to contain the situation. She had blamed the Left Front government and the Trinamool Congress government for not allowing her to return to the city.

She reached Kolkata on Friday (July 31, 2026) to attend the event at Rabindra Sadan.

The Chief Minister said Ms. Nasrin’s return indicated that not only had the face of the government changed but the entire system too. “This Bengal is free from any barriers and chains. Every single pillar of the Constitution is safe here. We all have the righteous opportunity for freedom of speech,” said Mr. Adhikari, welcoming the writer with a portrait of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the writer of national song Vande Mataram.

Veteran BJP leader and former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy also shared the stage with the writer. The audience comprised a number of State Ministers, including Swapan Dasgupta, Agnimitra Paul, and Kalyan Chakrabarti.

Thanks CM

“I have always questioned this city. Did I ever harm you [Kolkata]? I haven’t come for any answer today. I have come back to Kolkata with tears in my eyes and also immense love in my heart. This was my dream for the last 19 years. History remembers who shut this door. Now, history will also remember who opened this door again,” said Ms. Nasrin, expressing gratitude to the West Bengal Chief Minister for facilitating her return.

“It is still painful that a writer had to return to the city of her own language with such high security. I am thankful to the government. But my gratitude is not my allegiance to any party. I have not come here for any political party. I came here to express my voice over women’s liberty and freedom of speech,” the 63-year-old writer said at the event.

A day after the Trinamool Congress faced a drubbing by the BJP in the West Bengal Assembly elections, TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday (May 5, 2026) said her party respects the mandate as the will of the people is supreme. She also said that the party will continue the fight for a “secular country”.

In a post on X, Ms. Moitra said, “The will of the people is supreme. If Bengal wanted the BJP, then Bengal has got the BJP. We respect that.” The BJP on Monday (May 4) scripted history by winning 206 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal assembly polls, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule.