BSY's 'chicken' barb shows BJP is nervous: Shiv Sena

Slamming Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa over his remarks that the Congress president Rahul Gandhi had consumed meat before visiting a temple, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said that discussing such issues during poll campaign shows the "sick mentality" of the "nervous" BJP.

Yeddyurappa had hit out at Rahul for reportedly visiting Kanakachala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Kanakagiri in Koppal district on Sunday after eating "Javari chicken" during his tour of Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

"Congress president Rahul Gandhi gave the BJP family sleepless nights in Gujarat. It looks as if the same is going to be repeated in the Karnataka (Assembly elections). Rahul Gandhi visited a number of temples in Gujarat and offered prayers there. That time, the BJP criticised him severely, as it was worried about its own existence thinking what will happen if the Congress leader adopted Hindutva," the Sena, in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana said.

The write-up also claimed that the Congress will corner the BJP in the upcoming Karnataka elections, similar to what it did last year ahead of the Gujarat polls by adopting "soft Hindutva".

"Every religious place has its own customs and traditions. There are temples in Maharashtra where meat is offered to the deity...Raking up such issues in election campaign displays a sick mentality. Only they know what was there in Rahul Gandhi's plate. But, we are sure that it has turned the BJP nervous," the party added.