‘I am a practicing Hindu and have never eaten beef,’ says Youtuber Kamiya Jani amid the Jagannath Temple Visit Row

The BJP had also raised questions on Thursday over how a “promoter of beef consumption” got access to the 12th century shrine, where entry of non-Hindus is banned.

New Delhi: Social media influencer Kamiya Jani declared on Sunday that she has “never eaten or promoted beef.” This comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Jani, founder of popular online food and travel channel Curly Tales, of visiting Odisha’s Jagannath temple as a ‘beef promoter’. “In the wake of the recent controversy, it is important that I present real facts and the truth,” she said. “My motive for going to Jagannath was to seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath and provide information about the infrastructure of the temple. I am a practicing Hindu. I have never eaten beef and never advertise it.”

On Friday, the ruling BJD and the opposition BJP were locked in a fight against X over Jani’s entry into the Jagannath temple in Puri for making a video on the shrine.

While the saffron camp accused ruling BJD leader and former bureaucrat VK Pandian of facilitating the entry of Jani, who is accused of promoting beef consumption on a YouTube channel, to the temple, the ruling party said she was appointed earlier by top BJP leaders to make films on Hindu heritage and temples.

The BJP had also raised questions on Thursday over how a “promoter of beef consumption” got access to the 12th century shrine, where entry of non-Hindus is banned. BJD MP Manas Mangaraj went to X and questioned Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan about the unnecessary issue involving Kamiya Jani.

“She also went to Char Dham and Ayodhya Ram Temple to see Ram Lalla. And you all love her and posted this on your social media (handles),” Mangaraj said. Mangaraj, who is also the media advisor to the Odisha government, added screenshots of photos of Kamia Jani shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Dharmendra himself.

The BJD leader asked Pradhan, “Please tell us what your problem is with her now. Or is it simply intolerance towards the enormous work completion for Sri Mandir that you cannot bear? This is really shameful that you yourself liked and promoted posts about Hindu temples and now you have a problem for Sri Mandir.

Soon after Mangaraj’s post, BJP MLA Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, a close associate of Pradhan, posted on X: “@manasrmangaraj, the more you try to hide the truth, the more you expose it. Do you justify the promotion of Mahaprasad by someone who promotes beef?”