BENGALURU: Mounting an offensive against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for daring him to ban cow-slaughter, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah tersely asked: “I have reared cows, grazed them and even cleaned the dung. Has Yogi Adityanath done all these?”Siddaramaiah’s retort comes a day after Adityanath, while addressing a BJP rally in Bengaluru on Sunday, challenged the former to prove his Hindu credentials by banning slaughter of cows in the state.“The cow is a sacred animal to Hindus. When we were in power in the state we had enacted a legislation banning slaughter of cows. But the Congress government came to power and repealed it. In the run-up to the assembly polls, Siddaramaiah is telling everyone that he too is a Hindu. If Siddaramaiah is a Hindu he should not allow cow-slaughter,” the UP CM had said.Countering him, Siddaramaiah tweeted on Monday: “Has Yogi Adityanath, who is preaching us about conservation of cows, ever grazed cows? I have reared cows, grazed them and cleaned the dung. He does not have any moral authority to speak on the issue.”Siddaramaiah also slammed the BJP leaders for discriminating people on the basis of their food habits. “A lot of Hindus eat beef. If I want to eat I will, who are they to tell me not to consume beef. I do not eat beef only because I do not like to,” Siddaramaiah stated.Joining him, home minister R Ramalinga Reddy stated; “Why ban only cow slaughter? BJP is in power at the Centre and they can bring in legislation banning slaughter of all types of animals across the country. If that happens there is no need for Karnataka to come up with an anti-slaughter law confined only to cows.”State Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao tweeted: “Siddaramaiah or the Congress has never promoted beef-eating, our Constitution and our laws allow people to eat their food of their choice. Stop dividing India on religion, caste, diet, culture, practice and dresscode.”Reddy also slammed Adityanath for stating that the law and order situation in Karnataka had deteriorated in the recent times. The minister said: “Crime statistics released by the Centre shows that there is anarchy in Uttar Pradesh and not in Karnataka. Over 450 encounter killings have taken place, cases against political leaders have been withdrawn and children continue to die in government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh and it is an irony that he (Adityanath) is speaking about law and order in Karnataka.” The minister maintained that the state BJP leaders are roping in Adityanath in the run-up to the polls as part of the strategy to polarise votes.