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SHIMLA, India, Friday (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said Thursday the opposition had launched a dirty tricks campaign against him by calling him a beef eater.

"I have seen posters, pamphlets saying that Vajpayee eats beef. This is absolutely false and baseless," Vajpayee told a public meeting in the northern hill state of Himachal Pradesh.

"If the Congress (India's main opposition party) does not stop this false propaganda at once, it could incite violence across the country," he added.

"I have an experience of over fifty years in public life, but nobody has ever hit me below the belt. The Congress has gone too far this time."

Eating beef is against the Hindu religion as the cow is revered as a sacred animal.

Vajpayee was speaking during an election campaign for his Hindu nationalist BJP party in the state, where voting for the provincial legislative assembly takes place on February 26.

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