Meghalaya BJP leader promises cheaper beef

Guwahati: At the time when the Centre is facing severe criticism for its recent directive banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, a party leader in Meghalaya has created a fresh controversy by claiming that the party would make beef cheaper if voted to power in the north-eastern state which is a due for assembly election 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.”

Mr Marak went on saying that the BJP would regulate the prices of not only beef but other meat as well and legalise slaughter-houses in Garo Hills.

He also claimed that most of the BJP leaders in Meghalaya eat beef and New Delhi can’t enforce ban on its consumption.

“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,” he added.

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 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.

Mr Marak, who is the president of the party’s Tura city unit in Garo Hills, reiterated that there would be no ban on consumption of beef in the state. 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.

He pointed out that the meat sold in the state is not fit for consumption in the absence of proper certification by veterinary doctors. The BJP leader said the party would do everything that incumbent government failed to achieve.