Cattle sale ban: Meghalaya BJP leader resigns

Meghalaya was ranked the top beef-consuming state in the country where 80.74 per cent of the population eat beef.

A BJP leader in Meghalaya on Thursday resigned as a mark of protest against centre's new rule banning cattle trade for slaughter.

Bernard N Marak, former West Garo Hills district president, resigned from BJ , who had said that the saffron party would bring down prices of beef in Meghalaya if it comes to power after next year's assembly polls.

The anger against the Centre's rules restricting the selling and buying of cattle was so much palpable within the BJP in Meghalaya that a leader of the saffron party was reportedly planning to host a beef party to mark three years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Several leaders of the saffron party in Meghalaya have openly expressed their reservations over the Centre's latest restrictions on sale of cattle for slaughter that is likely to bring a blanket ban on beef across the country.

A day before, former Union minister and Congress MP Vincent H Pala has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift ban on sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets in tribal and beef consuming states like Meghalaya.

In a formal petition to the Prime Minister, Pala urged that formal views from all state governments should also be taken into consideration to review the rules and allow implementation of the same with state-wise necessary notifications.

Meghalaya was ranked the top beef-consuming state in the country where 80.74 per cent of the population eat beef, ahead of Lakshadweep and Nagaland, according to the latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

On May 26, the BJP-led NDA government completed three years of rule at the Centre.

OneIndia News