It was the turn of Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh to take up the cudgels on behalf of the gau rakshaks. A delegation of gau rakshaks met Mr Singh in his office at the Congress headquarters on Wednes-day. The delegation had sought time from two senior leaders of the Congress — Karan Singh and Digvijaya Singh — just a day back. They are demanding a complete ban on cow slaughter.
“I have supported a complete ban on cow slaughter and did it when I was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh,” Mr Singh said. Mr Singh has promised the gau rakshaks to take up the matter within the Congre-ss. He also added that once he is allowed he will raise the matter in Parliament. After getting support from one of the leaders of the Congress, the gau rakshaks are now hopeful that senior leader Karan Singh will back them too. This was something which the gau rakshaks were deman-ding that the Opposition should now also take up the issue in Parliament.
Mr Singh also said that it was in the Congress Working Committee meeting pre-Independence a resolution against cow slaughter was passed. But in the line of fire were the cow vigilantes and also the cadres of VHP and Bajrang Dal. Mr Singh alleged that in the name of fake cow protection, these cadres are extorting money and they should be dealt with strictly. This ensures that a distinction is made between genuine cow lovers and people who beat up dalits in Una in Gujarat.
The idea behind this is that the Congress will try to stump the BJP and the government on the issue of cow slaughter. Allegations have been made earlier about the condition of gaushalas in the BJP-ruled states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is on a temple run in Uttar Pradesh, while Congress leaders are speaking on cow slaughter ban. This shows the tilt in policy which the Congress is trying to attempt.
