Guwahati: While at a time when the NDA government is under scanner over the beef ban, a BJP leader in Meghalya has created a fresh controversy for the party by claiming that they would make beef cheaper if voted to power in elections next year.
The BJP leader and former A’chik National Volunteers Council-Breakaway (ANVC-B) chief Bernard Marak said, “If the saffron party comes to power in the state, instead of banning beef, it will reduce the price of the meat for the sake of the poor.”
In a statement to the newspaper, Mr Marak went on to say that the BJP would regulate not only the prices of beef but also other mea products as well, and legalise slaughter-houses in Garo Hills.
He also claimed that most of BJP leaders in Meghalaya eat beef and New Delhi can't enforce ban on its consumption.
He argued, “The question of banning beef does not arise in a state like Meghalaya, especially in Garo Hills. BJP leaders are well aware of the historical background and the Constitutional provisions over the hill areas and beef ban cannot be imposed in our state.”
It is significant that beef is widely consumed in the frontier state of Meghalaya, which is predominantly a Christian state, with the community accounting for 74.59% of the state’s population.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya BJP unit has also written a letter to Nalin Kohli, the BJP in-charge for Meghalaya, to ensure the state was spared the ban, reflecting uneasiness within the party over the cattle-trade directive.
Assuring the people not to get panicked by the recent notification of the central government, Mr Marak, in his statement, also targeted the ruling Congress government and accused them of failing to regulate the prices of meat.
