Pandemonium prevailed in Haryana Assembly on Tuesday over the remarks of a BJP MP that Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt went on to win nine Olympic gold medals after following his trainer’s advice to eat beef.

The Opposition raised the issue during calling attention motion on the menace of stray cattle in the State and even moved a condemnation resolution against the BJP MP for his remarks.

A day before, BJP’s lok Sabha MP from northwest Delhi Udit Raj had tweeted that eating beef helped Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt win nine Olympic gold medals. The ruling BJP, which has always taken a tough stand against beef consumption and cow slaughter across the country, faced severe criticism from the Opposition parties INlD and Congress over the MP’s remarks.

INlD’s Zakir Hussain, while raising this issue during discussion said, “It is a serious issue and an FIR should be registered against the MP and the entire House should pass a condemnation resolution against him over his remarks suggesting that beef eating can fetch gold medals at the Olympics.”

Supporting the resolution, leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala said that Chief Minister Manohar lal had himself gave a statement that people who consume beef should not be allowed to live in the country. A resolution condemning the BJP MP should now be passed in the Assembly, he said.

A condemnation resolution was then moved by INlD’s Zakir Hussain. The resolution was supported by the Congress legislators while BJP was caught on the backfoot as the incident sparked uproar in the state Assembly.

Defending the BJP MP, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said, “The statement has already been withdrawn by the party MP and the matter should not be discussed anymore.”

Following this, the Assembly witnessed heated exchange of words between the treasury benches and opposition legislators.

Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu then urged Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav to give ruling on whether an outsider can be named in the Assembly or not.

Continuing his tirade against the ruling party, Abhay Sinh Chautala said, “A day before, Chief Minister had informed the Assembly that an FIR has been registered against those who gave controversial statement against Jain Muni Tarun Sagar however the opposition is not even allowed to get passed a condemnation resolution against those who supported beef consumption.”

“If a person from opposition party had made such remarks, several cases would have been registered against him… protest marches would have been held in the country. But as he is a BJP leader, the party is defending him,” alleged Chautala.

The house then plunged into chaos as an adamant opposition pressed for passing the condemnation resolution while BJP legislators kept defending its MP over his controversial remarks. Congress legislative party leader Kiran Chaudhry while supporting the resolution said that the entire house should condemn the BJP MP for his remarks. On this, Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar tried to corner the Congress over Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah controversial statements on consumption of beef.

To pacify the situation, Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala then intervened and said, “I have just talked to the BJP MP, who has clarified that he did not give any statement about cow meat. He is being targeted, claimed Barala.

The leader of Opposition however kept pleading with the Deputy Speaker to allow to get passed the condemnation resolution.

Responding to this, Minister Ram Bilas Sharma kept on defending the BJP MP and said that the MP is a dalit activist and has already apologised for his remarks. The issue should be put to rest, he added.

Accusing the BJP for having double standards on the issue of cow slaughter, Chautala went onto say, “BJP’s working style is like… Kaam Karo Ya Na Karo, Kaam Ki Fikar Jarur Karo, Aur Fikar Karo Na Karo, Magar Zikar Jarur Karo…”

The INlD then staged a brief walkout from the Assembly.

Cow slaughter and smuggling is a sensitive issue across Haryana, as the animal is held in high respect in the state.  Enforcing a complete ban on the sale of beef in any form in Haryana, the State Assembly had last year passed Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, which provides for a rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to ten years for cow slaughter and provides for a fine from Rs 30,000 to Rs one lakh.

Haryana to conduct cattle census

Haryana Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister OP Dhankar on Monday informed the State Assembly that a latest data of livestock census of the state would be released in 2017.

Dhankar while replying to a calling attention motion on stray cattle said that to tackle the problem of stray cattle, Haryana Government will establish Gau-Abhayaranyas (cow sanctuaries) at various places in the state. These Gau-Abhayaranyas shall be operated by District Cattle Welfare Society headed by the Deputy Commissioner concerned and the Society would have two Committees namely - Governing Committee and Executive Committee.

As per 2012 livestock census, the state has livestock population of 89.98 lakh, out of which 18.08 lakh are cattle.

The castration of scrub bulls is being carried out by the Department to control breeding of cattle.  A total of 21843 bulls have been castrated during the campaign, of which mostly are bulls kept in Gaushalas and Nandi Shalas, said he.

On the issue of fake “cow protectors” extorting money in the state, Dhankar said that senior police officer has been appointed to look into the issue. To avert accidents with stray cattle at night, the Minister said that the Government is exploring the option of putting collars emitting lights, on these animals.

The legislators of opposition had earlier raised issues including problem faced by people while shifting the cattle to other places, increasing accidents due to stray animals, lack of gaushalas among others.

INlD questions creamy layer notification of Haryana Govt

INlD MlAs on Tuesday criticized the Haryana government’s notification fixing the criteria for the exclusion of the “creamy layer” within the Backward Classes category as per the schedule appended to the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institution) Act, 2016.

Raising the issue in the State Assembly, INlD’s Ranbir Singh Gangua alleged that this notification is a betrayal to other backward classes. On what basis, the criteria of income limit of three lakh and Rs six lakh per annum was fixed, he questioned. Other INlD legislators also questioned the Government over the issue. On this, Speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjar said that the issue will be taken up later.

As per the notification, the children of those who have a gross annual income of up to Rs three lakh would get the first preference as far as the benefits of reservation in services and admission in educational institutions are concerned.

The remaining quota seats would go to those in the backward classes category who earn between Rs three lakh and Rs six lakh per annum. Those with an annual income of above Rs six lakh would be considered the “creamy layer” under section 5 of the Act.