“You want to eat beef, then eat. Why a festival?” Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday, ANI reported.

The Vice President was speaking in Mumbai at the RA Podar College of Commerce and Economics. “Similarly, a Kiss Festival, if you wish to kiss why do you need a festival or anyone’s permission for it,” Naidu said.

Naidu’s comments appeared to be referring to beef festivals organised by students at IIT-Madras in May 2017, and the festival held by Youth Congress workers in Kochi in June 2017.

Naidu has earlier commented on food choices being personal. In April 2017, before he became Vice President, he had said, “Food is a personal choice, but at the same time there are certain restrictions in the Constitution.”