Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ‘warned’ that if the Congress came to power in the Lok Sabha elections, the party would give people “the right to eat beef.” At a campaign speech on Friday, April 27, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, “These shameless people [Congress] will provide the right to eat cow meat while our scriptures refer to cows as mother. They want to give cows into the hands of butchers. Will India ever accept this?”

It is to be noted that there is no mention of cow slaughter or beef in the Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. Most states across the country, including Uttar Pradesh, have separate laws around what is permissible and what is not with regards to cow slaughter, beef consumption, and export of beef. 

Yogi also made disparaging remarks against Muslims, claiming that the Congress was forcefully including Muslims in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. “Along with this, they are also discussing taking half of the inheritance property and reintroducing laws such as personal laws. The partition of this country took place due to these reasons. If any political party tries to do this, it will be opposed at all costs,” he said.

Attacking the Congress and its allies for “endorsing a Taliban-like mentality” in the country's politics, the UP chief minister said, “They are trying to resurrect the Maoist insurgency and are attempting to demean women by reintroducing practices like triple talaq through personal laws. Hence, in the present scenario, the BJP is opposing these issues.”

Yogi also said his party members are bringing up these issues and capturing the public’s attention. “The public’s attention is being drawn to what is the mentality of Congress and INDIA bloc. To prevent the Congress’ intentions from materialising, it is imperative for the public to act decisively and thwart them through every vote they cast,” he said.

(With inputs from IANS)