Karnataka BJP holds protest for cow slaughter ban

BANGALORE - The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday held rallies across Karnataka demanding early presidential nod to a bill banning cow slaughter in the state.

The bill, passed by both the houses of the state legislature, has been sent by Governor H.R. Bhardwaj to President Pratibha Patil for a decision as the Congress, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and several organizations, particularly Dalit bodies, have opposed the move.

Former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu, South Bangalore Lok Sabha member H.N. Ananth Kumar and state BJP chief K.S. Eshwarappa led the rally in Bangalore.

Naidu, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, flayed the governor for not giving assent to the bill and forwarding it to the president.

He said the delay in the nod for the bill was because of Congress “playing vote bank politics to appease the minorities”.

Eshwarappa and Ananth Kumar also criticized the governor for not giving assent to the bill.

They said the BJP campaign for early presidential assent will continue.

The party organised rallies and public meetings in all the 30 districts of the state.

The Congress, the JD-S, several Dalit organizations and several writers, including Jananpith award winner U.R. Anantha Murthy, have opposed the bill saying it was an attack on the food habits of a section of people.

Delegations of the Congress and the JD-S have met Patil in New Delhi and urged her not to okay the bill.