The northeastern Indian state of Assam has banned the consumption of beef in public places, including restaurants and at events.

This is an extension of an earlier rule that restricted the sale of beef near certain religious places like temples, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.

However, meat can still be purchased in stores and consumed in homes or private establishments in the state.

Beef consumption is a sensitive issue in India because cows are revered by Hindus, who make up 80% of the country’s population.

Several states ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – also in power in Assam – have cracked down hard on cow slaughter in recent years.

About two-thirds of India’s 28 states, many of which are ruled by the BJP, have partially or completely banned the slaughter of livestock and the consumption of beef (although the consumption of buffalo meat is legal in some of these places).

In many parts of India, cow rights groups have been accused of enforcing the ban through violence, often leading to deadly attacks on Muslim meat and livestock sellers and Dalits (formerly untouchables) , for whom beef is a basic and inexpensive form of protein.

In Assam, the sale and purchase of beef was banned in 2021 in areas where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs – who generally do not eat beef – live. This law also prohibited the sale of beef near temples.

Sarma said the new ban on public consumption will be added to the existing law.

The move comes days after India’s main opposition Congress claimed Sarma used beef to win a by-election in Samaguri, a predominantly Muslim constituency – an accusation denied by the BJP.

Congress lawmaker Rakibul Hussain said that by “offering beef” to voters, the chief minister had “betrayed” his own party’s Hindu nationalist values.

The statements sparked a political brawl, with Sarma saying on Wednesday that he was prepared to impose a total ban on beef in the state if that was what Congress wanted.

Meanwhile, other political parties criticized the ban, saying it interfered with citizens’ rights to eat what they want.

“If they can’t ban beef in Goa or other northeastern states, why in Assam? said All India United Democratic Front member Hafiz Rafiqul Islam.

The sale and consumption of beef is legal in some states, including BJP-ruled Goa and Arunachal Pradesh.