Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday blamed the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for a controversy over the chief minister eating a meal of fish and chicken before visiting a temple in Dharmasthala town in Dakshina Kannada district. “Having failed to govern, BJP is worried about my choice of food before I go to a temple!” he tweeted.

Siddaramaiah had visited the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara temple in Dharmasthala town on Sunday, after a meal of fish fry and country chicken, reported The Times of India. Reacting to this, Krishna Bhat, a priest from Puttur town said, ““There is no mention [in the scriptures] of restrictions on people who have consumed non-vegetarian food to have a darshan of the deity.” However, he added that devotees have to follow Hindu scriptural laws in order to perform certain services at a temple. “For example, a devotee offering Ashlesha Bali ( a prayer) has to be on a purely vegetarian diet for two days previously.”

Veeru Shetty, a personal assistant to Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala temple chaplain D Veerendra Heggade, said, “We do not have any say in this matter.” “Worship is a personal relationship between the devotee and God. We do not check what a person has consumed before entering the temple to pay obeisance,” he added.