New Delhi: BJP and Congress on Sunday traded barbs over the all-vegetarian menu at the dinner for Brics leaders, as the opposition party alleged that the govt was imposing its dietary choices on foreign guests.Hitting back, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said, “I cannot believe Congress is doing politics even on food served to Brics leaders. Our guests relished Indian vegetarian cuisine, which is rich in flavour and nutritional variety with diverse regional traditions.”
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The menu shared online triggered debate along familiar lines as pro-govt voices lauded the rich choice of vegetarian food to introduce guests to Indian cuisine, while critics panned govt for ignoring India’s diverse non-vegetarian food. Politicians waded in.“For the record: 80% Indians are non-vegetarian. Indian non-vegetarian food is delicious. As are my sister’s chole bhature,” LoP Rahul Gandhi said. He made no direct mention of the menu, but the post left little to the imagination. Congress’s Pawan Khera said India was home to some of the finest non-vegetarian delicacies. “Why did govt choose to hide this part of India’s culture?”Govt functionaries chose to look at the positive side. “The success of Brics summit and India’s diplomacy can be established from the fact that the only criticism even the worst critics have is about the options in the food menu,” one of them said.
