Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited his constituency, Varanasi, and laid foundations and inaugurated a number of welfare schemes and praised the UP Chief Minister, Aditya Nath Yogi, whose six months in power brought him more brickbats than bouquets. On the second day of his visit on September 23, he inaugurated the Pashu Arogya Mela (cattle health fair) and said , unlike other political parties, the BJP does not decide its priorities on the basis of votes. We have been brought up in a different culture, he continued and said for us the nation is above all and its development is our top priority. To prove his point, he said these animals did not vote and they are not anyone’s voters, but we gave importance to them. The healthcare of cattle is an important issue and the state government conducted a big fair to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This was connected to the farmers welfare. People can understand that animals don’t vote but farmers do. However, the Prime Minister, wanted to please his audience and praise his party. But in the process he spoke a tall story that his party was brought in a different culture and never cared for the votes. Politicians seldom tell the whole truth particularly when they want to take the audience for a ride. It is a simple truth that all political parties concentrate their activities to gain power through vote. No political party is exception. Ironically the BJP is more enthusiastic in vote-gaining game than any other party.
The BJP is the only party which divides the people on caste, creed and religious lines to get votes. It is known that it exploits communal violence for polarization of votes. In the last general elections in 2014, it exploited the communal riots in the UP and swept the state. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party simply played spectator. It was the UP tally that helped the BJP to get absolute majority. Therefore it is a not truthful to argue that the BJP is not interested in votes and that it based its policies on the welfare of the people. The Prime Minister praised the Chief Minister for taking up welfare measures. After the swearing-in ceremony, the first order that he issued was in connection with closure of slaughter houses and thus rendered many meat traders to jobless. He promised to improve law and order in the state but crime graph is on the rise as announced by police authorities. To curb the crime, the criminals are shot dead in encounters. A 32,000 crore scheme to wave farm loans of up to one lakh was announced. It has been reported that many farmers got waiver of Rs. 3 to Rs. 1000 only.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the cattle healthcare fair, organized by the UP government which is worth praising, but he forgot the stray cattle menace that has gripped many states. During the Modi regime the cow vigilantes are simply calling shots and the movement of cattle is restricted very much. The practice of unproductive cattle winding up in slaughter houses and being used for meat and leather trade is already disturbed. Since May this year, after the central government notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (regulation and livestock market) Rules 2017, it has become more difficult to buy, sell and transport cattle. This situation has led to alarming increase of stray cattle which are eating away and destroying crops worth lakhs of rupees. If you want to save cow, the government should provide adequate number of shelters for them. This is a minus aspect of the movement to save cow and shutting down slaughter houses. Many states are facing this problem. Will the welfare-conscious government look into it?
