Indian opposition politician hit with fabricated 'eat beef' remarks

Published on November 5, 2025 at 10:20
2 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

An Indian opposition politician did not promote eating beef at a press conference in October 2025, contrary to claims circulating on social media in the country, where cows are revered by the Hindu majority and their slaughter is banned in several states. Review of the full press brief shows he was referring to the Uttar Pradesh government's tourism plan to promote dairy products -- which are allowed in Hinduism -- and saying he did not object to the public consuming "cow-related products".

"Eat beef, Akhilesh Yadav said. This will surely lead to his downfall," read the Hindi-language text superimposed on the video shared on Instagram on October 15, 2025 before it was deleted.

The clip showed Akhilesh Yadav, president of Uttar Pradesh's largest opposition Samajwadi Party, speaking in Hindi at a press briefing: "Consume cow-related products." (archived link)

He then paused and asked for the Hindi word for eating and drinking, before going on to say: "We have no objection".

Screenshot of the false Instagram post, taken on October 30, 2025

Cows are venerated as sacred by the country's Hindu majority, and their slaughter is illegal in many Indian states, while dairy products such as butter and milk are permissible (archived link).

Yadav -- whose party failed to unseat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state's last General Assembly election in 2022 -- has often been accused of "insulting" Hindu beliefs, including in March when a BJP spokesperson said his remarks that cowsheds spread foul smell were "demeaning" (archived link).

The video has been shared with similar claims on Facebook and X, and some users appear to believe it showed Yadav saying he did not object to the public eating beef.

One user wrote, "And what do you understand by the consumption of other cow products? Clearly, it means slaughtering and eating cows."

"All Hindus should listen carefully to his statement; he is advocating eating cows, and he will be held accountable for this in the elections," said another.

But he was actually responding to a journalist's question on the state government's plans to promote "cow tourism", which includes plans to develop cow shelters into tourist attractions and promote the use of cow-related products such as dung, urine, milk and ghee (archived link).

A reverse image search using keyframes from the video found the full livestream of the same press briefing on X by Hindi news channel Bharat Samachar on October 15 (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false video (L) and the longer version streamed by Bharat Samachar

At the 4:30 mark in the video, Yadav can be heard saying, "They can engage in cow tourism, serve cows, worship cows," before cutting to the footage shared in the false posts.

He goes on to say, "but at least save Uttar Pradesh from bulls," referring to the problem of stray cattle in the state, including an incident on October 13 where two people were killed by a stray bull that went on a rampage in Aligarh (archived link).

He did not mention that eating beef is permissible in his response or during the press conference, which was also streamed live on his party's verified X handle (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation around beef consumption in India.

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