BJP promises cow ministry in Madhya Pradesh to woo upper caste and to counter Congress

New Delhi, Oct 1: Politics over cow intensifies as in response to the promise made by Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kamal Nath to set up a gaushala at every panchayat, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan too has made a commitment of setting up a cow ministry in the state. The ministry would replace the present Gau Samvardhan Board. Many Sangh Pariwar affiliates have been demanding the ministry for long.

Interestingly, Madhya Pradesh has set up the first cow sanctuary of the country under the Gau Samvardhan Board in September 2017 at Agar Malwa district, spread over 472 hectares, with a capacity for housing 6,000 cows.

But this is to recall that some times back MPCC chief promised to set up cow shelters at every village panchayat if the Congress comes to power in the state as he was pained by deaths of cow progeny that room around on streets and highways and getting hit by vehicles.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was also under pressure due to anger of the upper caste community across the country so this move is also being considered to cajole the community as the MP was the worst hit by this. War of words between the Congress and the BJP has intensified with the Congress taking the rout of soft Hindutva making the BJP uneasy.

The BJP attacked the Congress by arguing that the Congress is responsible for this state of affairs of cows in the state as its policy of giving away common grazing ground to squatters which had reduced local fodder for the cows.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister has now started talking about cow ministry during Jan Ashirvad Yatra. Chouhan reportedly said that the state has Gau Samvardhan Board, but the government is thinking that it would be better if it has a cow ministry. The board has financial constraints, but with the ministry this could be done away with.

The MP CM is not criticizing gaushala promised by the state Congress president. He said that gaushalas are a nice idea but it would be better if cows are kept at every home. A gaushala in every home with 2-3 cows has the potential to bring about a revolution.

But the Congress has come down heavily on the proposal of the CM when Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja tweeted that the BJP did nothing for setting up cow shelters during its 15 years in power.