A beef festival in Kolkata has reportedly been forced to rename the event after organisers allegedly received phone calls from people identifying themselves as members of BJP and Bajrang Dal and threatened to protest at the venue.

The Kolkata Beef Festival, scheduled to be held on 23 June, announced on Facebook that it had changed its name to Kolkata Beep* Festival. (Note the asterisk next to Beep.)

However, after receiving numerous calls from people who identified themselves as members of the Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and threatened to stage agitations if only beef remained the theme of the festival, we decided to rename it, Arjun Kar, one of the organisers, told Hindustan Times .

While BJPs Bengal president Dilip Ghosh said he was not aware of any party worker threatening the festival organisers, he told the daily, Those who championed beef eating culture have all lost in the elections. The people of Bengal are no longer taking such provocative acts lightly. Eat whatever you want at your home but why do you advertise or need to make it a festival? Isnt it creating provocations?