News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 1st December 2024
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said he was willing to prohibit beef in Assam if state Congress head Bupen Kumar Borah wrote to him about it. In response to allegations that the BJP distributed beef to win the Muslim-dominated Samaguri, which had been controlled by the Congress for five consecutive terms, Sarma said he was glad the opposition party brought up the issue.
“Samaguri was with Congress for 25 years. Congress losing a constituency like Samaguri by 27,000 votes (sic) is the biggest shame in its history. It is Congress’s defeat more than BJP’s win,” he told reporters after a party meeting here on Saturday.
BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah defeated Congress’ Tanzil, son of party MP Rakibul Hussain, by 24,501 votes in a bypoll last month.
“But amidst sadness, Rakibul Hussain said one good thing that eating beef is wrong, isn’t it? He said that it was wrong for Congress-BJP to win elections by offering beef to voters,” the CM said when asked about the MP’s reported comment.
“I want to know if Congress was winning Samaguri by offering beef to voters. He knows Samaguri very well. Does it mean that Samaguri can be won by offering beef?” asked Sarma.
Hussain, who won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat this year by a record margin of almost 10.12 lakh votes, had served as an MLA in Samaguri for five consecutive terms before becoming an MP. “I want to tell Rakibul Hussain that beef should be banned as he himself said it is wrong. He only needs to give me in writing that neither BJP nor Congress should speak about beef, in fact, it should be banned in Assam. If we do that, all problems will be solved,” Sarma said.
The CM further said that he would write to the state Congress president about his stand on beef in the backdrop of Hussain’s statement. “So, I will write to Bhupen Borah and ask him if he also advocates banning beef in line with Rakibul Hussain, and just inform me. I will ban beef completely in the next assembly (accordingly). Then BJP, AGP, CPM, nobody will be able to offer, and Hindus, Muslims and Christians all should stop eating beef, and all problems will be solved,” he added.
“I am happy that Rakibul Hussain has made this statement because at least one step has been taken. Now, the second step should be taken by Bhupen Borah,” Sarma stressed.
Consumption of beef is not illegal in Assam, but The Assam Cattle Preservation Act of 2021 bans cattle slaughter and sale of beef in areas where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs are in majority and within a five-km radius of a temple or satra (Vaishnavite monastery).
