Patna, Oct 10 (PTI): Adding further meat to the beef controversy, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad has said that even Rishi-Maharshi (saints) used to eat beef, buttressing his party chief Lalu Prasad's claim that "Hindus also eat beef".
"It's written in Vedas that Rishi-Maharshi (saints) also used to eat beef... There is no point discussing it at present (at a time when elections are held)," he said.
Singh, RJD's national vice-president, was speaking after the filing of nomination papers by RJD candidate Ram Vichar Rai at Muzaffarpur yesterday.
Singh said that it is a matter of academic debate and there is no point discussing it in the elections. It can be debated later on, he added.
Singh's remark has come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RJD President Lalu Prasad are locked in a verbal duel on beef eating.
On Thursday the Prime Minister, while addressing a number of rallies in Munger, Begusarai and Samastipur, had said Lalu Prasad cannot absolve himself of his beef remarks by claiming that it was the "devil" (shaitan) on his tongue which made him say it, and added, "I want to know how the shaitan got the address (of Lalu)...he recognises that it was the shaitan in a similar manner as people recognise their relatives."
In a riposte to the Prime Minister's assertion, Lalu Prasad yesterday called Modi a "Brahma Pishach".
"If I am Shaitan, what is he? A 'Brahma Pishach' (powerful demon spirit as described in ancient Hindu texts)," Prasad had said.
RJD had yesterday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against Prime Minister Modi for using "disparaging and insulting" remarks "shaitan" (devil) against party chief Lalu Prasad and Yadav caste, and urged the poll panel not to allow him (PM) address further rallies.
Meanwhile, Union minister Giriraj Singh reacted sharply to Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's statement and said in a tweet today that first Lalu Prasad talked about beef eating and then his party's senior leader Raghuvansh Singh used the statement.
Nitish Kumar's silence over the statements of RJD leader shows that they would forcefully make Hindus eat beef (cow meat), he added.
