BJP president Amit Shah has praised the Maharashtra and Haryana Governments for banning beef in their States and stressed that "this is not about food habits but sentiments". He, however, said a national beef ban would need a consensus.
Answering a range of questions in an interview with India Today magazine, Shah said during the one year of the Modi Government, the growth rate has picked up, the fiscal deficit and current account deficit remained under control and "inflation has come down to negative".
On Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi turning active and creating discomfort to the Government, Shah said, “Any leader saying anything after being in power for 10 years needs to be questioned about what he did in those 10 years. He should answer those questions before jumping to question us.”
Asked why only two BJP States were picked up for praise and whether there was a possibility of a national ban on cow slaughter, he said Maharashtra and Haryana were praised for legislating a ban on beef.
"This law is already in place in other (BJP) States. As far as a national ban goes, there is need for a consensus. We believe that cow slaughter should be banned. Wherever there is a BJP Government, we have banned it."
Quizzed further as to why the Government should be deciding about food choices, he said there was "a differences between food habits and someone's sentiments."
"I personally would not like to hurt anyone's sentiments. This is not about food habits but sentiments," Shah said.
On the question of some BJP leaders making controversial statements and "creating ambience of fear", Shah was quoted in the magzine saying, "I do not believe this. Riots se koi nahin darta hai ji, bayan se kya daregaIJ (No one's afraid of riots, why would they be afraid of mere statementsIJ) Riots have happened across the country, but it hasn't ruptured society. They get back and live together for years."
"There should not be riots. But society has weathered that. So there is no question of statements disrupting society. But people should not make such statements".
On Rahul Gandhi creating a perception that 'helping business and industry is a negative', Shah responded saying no one can create an atmosphere.
"There has to be some reality to create a certain atmosphere. If we were pro-industry, could we have earned `2 lakh crore through (coal) auctionsIJ We could have also given coal mines away like Congress gave (its party leaders Vijay) Darda and (Naveen) Jindal. We could have also given 2G spectrum.We have auctioned it in a transparent way", he said.