Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday criticised the decision by at least three municipal corporations in the state to close slaughterhouses and meat shops on Independence Day, NDTV reported.

“It is wrong to impose such a ban,” Ajit Pawar said. “In major cities, people of different castes and religions reside. If it is an emotional issue, then people accept it [ban] for a day. But if you clamp such orders on Maharashtra Day, Independence Day and Republic Day, then it is difficult.”

The deputy chief minister’s comment came hours after the civic bodies in Nagpur and Malegaon ordered meat shops and slaughterhouses to remain closed on Friday. A day earlier, similar directives were issued by the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation.

The municipal corporations are under administrative rule, with the municipal commissioner acting as the administrator on behalf of the state government.

The authorities in Kalyan-Dombivli warned of action under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act if the order is violated.

Rajesh Bhagat, the deputy commissioner of Nagpur’s department of solid waste management, said in his order that action will be taken against violators by the civic flying squad, The Indian Express reported.

Ajit Pawar said on Tuesday that “what one should eat or not eat” was an individual’s choice.

“Nobody has the right to impose the decision,” he said. “There are some people who are vegetarians and others who are non-vegetarians. It is part of an individual’s habit, culture and inheritance and geographical conditions.”

Noting that food habits need to be respected, Pawar said that he would discuss the matter within the government.

The Opposition parties have described the civic corporations’ actions as “food policing”.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Jitendra Awhad claimed on Monday that the ruling Mahayuti alliance was “fuelling a vegetarian-non-vegetarian divide” after having “exhausted other social controversies”.

The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Ajit Pawar and the Shiv Sena group led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Awhad also questioned whether the state government would now decide on when to eat non-vegetarian food.

On Monday, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray demanded the suspension of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation commissioner. “Bridges are collapsing, roads are in terrible shape, and instead of fixing them, the administration is busy banning food,” Thackeray said.

The BJP stated that the decision by the municipal corporations was in line with a directive from 1988.

“It has been in practice since then,” The Indian Express quoted the Hindutva party as saying. “Every year an individual civic body takes a call.”

Hyderabad

A petition has also been filed in the Telangana High Court against a recent order by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation directing the closure of beef shops and slaughterhouses on Independence Day and Janmashtami.

Janmashtami is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of the deity Krishna and will be observed on August 16.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday described the decision as “callous and unconstitutional”.

“What’s the connection between eating meat and celebrating independence day?” Owaisi asked on social media. “99% of Telangana’s people eat meat. These meat bans violate people’s right to liberty, privacy, livelihood, culture, nutrition and religion.”