Archives for May 2017

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala and the Congress-led UDF today attacked the Centre for the ban on the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Centre’s decision was “surprising” which was unsuitable for a democratic nation.

“It is not right that a government decides the choice of food of the people. With this decision, the Centre is destroying a sector which employees thousands of people,” Vijayan said in a strong reaction to the Union government’s decision.

The notification was part of Centre’s attempt to implement “RSS agenda”. The Centre should have consulted with the states and sought their opinion before coming with the notification, Vijayan said in a statement here.

While state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said the decision was ‘illogical’ and the state would introspect what it could do legally, Local Administration Minister K T Jaleel and Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar felt it was an infringement on the powers of the state and the decision cannot be accepted.

“This was a state subject and the Centre cannot infringe on the state’s rights”, Jaleel told reporters here.

Sunil Kumar said the notification was a challenge to the country’s federal system. India is a democratic nation and the centre’s decision to impose the ban without consulting the states amounted to violation of the federal system, he said.

Animal Husbandry Minister K Raju opined that the decision will destroy the federal structure and will have far reaching consequences.

CPI(M) state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in his Facebook post that the government led by Narendra Modi, who was an RSS Pracharak, has come out with the notification at a time when the country was all set to celebrate Ramzan.

Echoing similar sentiments, Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the ban was an attempt to usurp the human rights of citizens.

“The Modi Government’s effort from the beginning was to curb the constitutional rights and the ban was the latest example of the alleged fascist moves of the government,” he said.

KPCC President M M Hassan also criticised the decision saying it was against the Constitution and encroachment on the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The notification banning cattle trade for meat was unconstitutional and violation of federal principles, Dr Varughese George, National General Secretary of Janata Dal(U).

However,Justifying the Centre’s decision, BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, blamed the mediafor “distorting” the notification.

The notification had only restricted the sale of animals for slaughter which were used for agricultural purposes, he said attributing “political motives” on the part of media in hiding.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will be the BJP’s chief ministerial face in the Assembly polls scheduled early next year, party president Amit Shah said today.

During an interaction with PTI, Shah also indicated that Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani would be the party’s choice for the top post in the state, asserting that it would win more than 150 seats in the Assembly polls slated later this year. The Assembly has 182 seats.

He, however, said the party has not yet decided on its chief ministerial face in Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls along with Gujarat.

“It (Karnataka election) will be fought under Yeddyurappa,” Shah said.

Asked if it meant that Yeddyurappa, who is the BJP’s Karnataka unit chief, will be the chief ministerial face, he said, “He will be.”

The Karnataka unit has been facing factional fight with a group headed by former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa targeting Yeddyurappa’s leadership.

To a question on the party’s state of affairs in Karnataka, Shah said he would visit the state soon. The party had recently taken action against some leaders, suspected to be behind the internal wrangling.

Asked whether Rupani will be the party’s CM face in Gujarat, Shah said, “He is already the chief minister.”
“What does it mean that he will be the chief ministerial face…,” he said in a lighter vein.

Yeddyurappa (74), an influential Lingayat leader, had led the saffron party to its maiden victory in the southern state in 2008, but was forced to resign following charges of corruption against him.

He floated his own outfit in 2011. Though his party performed poorly in the 2013 Assembly polls, it managed to wean away a substantial chunk of the BJP votes, leading to a rout of the saffron party.

He returned to the BJP fold ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

(Agencies)

Kasaragod: ‘Beef Fests’ were held in various parts of Kerala on Saturday to protest the Centre’s decision of banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he would approach the prime minister in this matter.

Hindus, Christians and atheists cooked and swallowed beef on the road side in various cities of the state. However, Muslims did not take part in the ‘beef fest’ due to the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan.

Activists of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, opposition Congress-headed UDF and their youth wings took out marches and organised these fests across the state, where beef is widely consumed.

The central government has banned the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, a move that is expected to hit export and trade of meat and leather.

Demonstrations were held outside the secretariat in the state capital. “We will eat beef to show our protest against the central government. We want to tell this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” DYFI national president Mohammed Riyaz, who led the protest, said.

In Kollam district, a group of Congress workers cooked beef in front of the DCC office to register its opposition to the Centre’s decision.

District unit chief of Congress, Bindu Krishna told reporters that “beef delicacy will be packed and sent to head post office for delivery to Modi ji.”

Chief Minister Vijayan said he would be sending a letter to the Prime Minister this evening.

In Kochi, Tourism and Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran participated in a ‘beef fest’, where bread and beef curry was served, even as Youth Congress activists took out a protest march in the city.

In Thodupuzha in Idukki district, protesters took out a march with the head of a buffalo.

The Union environment ministry has notified the stringent ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’ under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan yesterday said the new rules are very “specific” and aim to regulate animal markets and sale of cattle.

Reacting to the Centre’s decision, senior Congress leader and former Union minister A K Antony said the notification should be “torn to bits” and “dumped in a dust-bin”.

The UDF will observe ‘black day’ on Monday against the ban, opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said at Thrissur. Front workers will wear black badges and take out protest marches, he said.

(Agencies)