After lunch break in the State Assembly, the BJP legislators who were resting were called in haste, as there was a situation of division of votes in the House over an unofficial resolution brought by Congress legislator Arif Aqeel.
As soon as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra came to know that there might be division of votes over the issue, he immediately phoned all the members and soon, the BJKP legislators reached the House in haste. In the afternoon, when Aqeel brought forth the unofficial resolution regarding safety of cows, stating that the bodies of the cows should be either buried or cremated, so that the illegal business of cows’ hides could be stopped.
On behalf of the State government Anumal Husbandry Minister Kusum Mehadele informed the House about different measures towards protection of cows and demanded that the Congress member should withdraw his unofficial resolution, as such provisions could not be made legal. Forest Minister Gaurishankar Shejwar and Higher Education Minister Umashankar Gupta told the House that the issue is related to religion and thus right in this direction towards taking any decision is of the religious heads. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra also said that there are several conventions associated with cow and they can not be controlled with government rules.
However, Aqeel was not ready to withdraw the resolution and leader of the Opposition and other Congress members present in the House supported him. On this, Speaker Sitasharan Sharma asked the House about the fate of the resolution by voice vote. On this, the opposition demanded division of votes. later, the resolution was rejected with 55 votes against 31.
The BJP members alleged that the resolution was politically motivated and it had nothing to do with the safety of cow. later, talking to media persons, leader of the Opposition Satyadev Katare criticized the State government’s attitude stating that the resolution was brought to prevent killing of cows. Arif Aqeel stated that he has been making efforts to bring the resolution in this regard for the past one year.