The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making beef a big election issue, not in the context of the lynching of one man in Dadri village in Greater Noida but an off the cuff remark by RJD supremo lalu Prasad. All lalu rivals belonging to his caste are firing salvos against him and condemning him for his remark that some Hindus also consume beef.
But the bitterest attack has been mounted by senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi who is raising this issue in his all meetings now. In a statement on Monday, Modi said, “In Bihar election there is a direct fight between beef eaters and proponents of ban on cow slaughter.” His statement is a clear indication that BJP has lapped up this issue to counter lalu’s attack on RSS head Mohan Bhagwat’s stand on reservation policy.
BJP has pressed into service its Yadav brigade to continue its attack on RJD boss and their stress is that lalu, by making such a remark has insulted Yaduvanshi Samaj. BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said, “lord Krishna is known for the protection of cows and those who claim to be descendents of Krishna are talking about beef eating. The Yaduvanshis will give a befitting reply to him in this election.”
Former Union Minister Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav, said, “I never imagined that lalu will stoop so low for the sake of votes. He has insulted not only Yaduvanshis but the entire Hindu society.”
Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, lalu’s former aide Ranjan Prasad Yadav and Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav also sharpened their attack on lalu. Ranjan even said he knew what meat lalu had been eating. A few years back lalu had declared that he was now a vegitarian.
Modi, in his statement, claimed that during lalu’s regime a large number of cattle were being smuggled from Sonepur mela to Assam and across the border and he as deputy CM had put a ban on this practice. The Narendra Modi Government has saved lakhs of cows from slaughter by putting a ban on the smuggling of cattle from the border, he said and added that once the BJP-led Government is formed in Bihar a strict law will be enforced similarly as prevalent in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for the protect of cows. In Bihar, he said, there was ban on the slaughtering of cows below 14 years but this law is not effective.