In a state where fish can be both food and an offering to the gods, a plate of fish bhog has now acquired a distinctly political meaning. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s visit to Kolkata’s centuries-old Kalighat temple on Thursday came amid a growing controversy over whether Bengali Hindus should give up non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja.

Adhikari did not merely visit the Shakta shrine on the auspicious occasion of Kaushiki Amavasya.

He sat on the floor and partook of the temple’s traditional bhog, including a large fish head, fried fish and basanti pulao. Watch the viral video below: 

The meal assumed significance because it came days after Bageshwar Dham head priest Dhirendra Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, criticised Bengali Hindus who eat non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja and urged them to shut meat and liquor shops during the festival.

For Bengal, where fish and meat have long occupied an important place in both cuisine and cultural life, the remarks sparked an immediate backlash.

The controversy also carries a religious dimension. At Kalighat, devotees traditionally offer fish to Maa Kali and then consume the offering.

Also read: Dhirendra Shastri controversy: CM Adhikari backs right to religious opinion, seeks arrests over protests

Sacrificial goat meat is also part of the temple's established ritual tradition.

Against that backdrop, Adhikari's meal at Kalighat appeared to offer a pointed counter to the growing vegetarian-versus-non-vegetarian debate.

The BJP seized on the moment.

'Let the controversy end where it should,' BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said while sharing the video of Adhikari participating in the traditional fish bhog.

He said the Chief Minister's act respected 'Bengal's faith, traditions, and way of life' and asserted that the BJP would stand by Bengal's traditions.

The political messaging comes against an interesting backdrop.

Adhikari had welcomed Bageshwar Baba to Bengal with considerable fanfare, laid out a red carpet for him and urged him to open a centre in the state.

Yet, when the priest's remarks on Bengali dietary habits triggered a backlash, the Bengal BJP distanced itself from the idea that an outsider could dictate what people in the state should eat.

'Bageshwar Baba has no right to decide what the people of Bengal will eat. Bengalis will eat fish and meat,' Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya had said, invoking Swami Vivekananda's views in favour of Bengalis consuming fish and meat.

Adhikari, meanwhile, had taken another position that sought to balance the competing sentiments.

He ordered the arrest of those accused of burning photographs of Bageshwar Baba during protests, while maintaining that the priest was entitled to his personal opinion and people were equally free to accept or reject it.

His Kalighat visit added a more visual answer to that position.

Speaking about his own dietary practices, Adhikari said he follows sattvik food on Mahashtami while worshipping Maa Durga and also during the month of Kartik.

At the same time, he said he eats non-vegetarian food when it is offered to Maa Kali.

'Today, the bhog offered at the temple had fish head, fried fish, and basanti pulao. I ate that,' he said.

The episode has therefore moved beyond a simple argument over what belongs on a Puja plate.

It has become a debate over who gets to define Bengali Hindu tradition, and whether practices rooted in Bengal's own religious and culinary culture can be measured against dietary norms from elsewhere.

At Kalighat, the answer came not in a speech, but on a plate of fish bhog.