BJP calls Cong bluff, vows cow slaughter Bill in this session

With the Opposition foiling its attempt to have a Lok Sabha resolution calling for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter last evening, the BJP v...

With the Opposition foiling its attempt to have a Lok Sabha resolution calling for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter last evening, the BJP vowed today to introduce a legislation for the purpose during the current session of Parliament.

‘‘The Government has assured us it will bring a Bill for banning cow slaughter in the current session,’’ BJP parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said. Provoked by the pin-pricks of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh and the state Youth Congress’s attempt to project Vajpayee as a beef eater, the BJP is determined to force the Congress to take a categorical stand.

When asked if it was possible for the Centre to legislate on a subject placed in the state list, Malhotra said: ‘‘Yes, through a constitutional amendment.’’

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His party colleague Uma Bharti said: ‘‘It would be possible only with Congress support. We do not have the requisite strength to push through a constitutional amendment.’’

Malhotra also hit out at the Congress and Left parties for disrupting Lok Sabha proceedings after Prahlad Patel of the BJP moved a private member’s resolution calling for a ban on cow slaughter yesterday.

He said: ‘‘It would be recorded among the blackest days in the history of Parliament.’’ Malhotra and Bharti maintained that the Congress conduct in the Lok Sabha yesterday had exposed its double face.

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