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Cong demands Chhattisgarh minister’s resignation over cow death in shelters run by BJP leader
Harish Verma, the arrested BJP leader who runs the cowsheds, has blamed the state government for allegedly failing to release funds for buying fodder.
The Congress has demanded the resignation of Chhattisgarh minister Brijmohan Agarwal over the death of more than 170 cows in three government-aided shelters in the state, all of them run by a local BJP leader.
The cow deaths in the BJP-ruled state, where self-styled vigilante groups have attacked several people on suspicion of cow and beef smuggling, have come as an embarrassment for the ruling party and sparked a political blame game.
Harish Verma, the BJP leader who runs the cowsheds, was arrested. He has blamed the state government, saying it failed to release pending funds for buying fodder for the animals.
“There is huge corruption in the animal husbandry department, which led to the incident in both the districts (Durg and Bemetara). Despite the grants of crores of rupees to goshalas, most of them are in pathetic condition,” Bhupesh Baghel, state Congress president, said on Sunday.
Congress leaders and workers also took out a foot march in Rajpur area demanding strict punishment to the guilty in cow deaths incident.
Baghel accused BJP leaders of illegal trade of bovines.
“We have reports that many senior BJP leaders in the state are involved in beef trade and smuggling of bovines and we will expose them soon,” he said.
He also questioned the silence of ruling BJP and RSS, accused by opposition parties and critics of playing politics in the name of cow protection.
“Why are the RSS and BJP is mum over the issue? BJP and RSS workers have been involved in lynching innocent people in the name of gau-raksha (cow protection) but here they are silent,” he said.
According to Chhattisgarh Rajya Gau Sewa Ayog officials, nearly 52 cows died at the Shagun Gaushala in Rajpur village in Durg, while 121 in two cowsheds in Bemetara district during the past week due to “lack of care and proper facilities”.
The aayog lodged police complaints against Verma, accusing him of siphoning off Rs 1.65 crore meant for the three cowsheds. Verma, also the vice president of Jamul Nagar Nigam, has been running these cow shelters for several years.
The Chhattisgarh government has also suspended nine officials, including two deputy directors of the animal husbandry department.
On August 30, the Congress protest in front of the chief minister Raman Singh’s official residence in capital Raipur . He said the protesters will take stray cows to the protest.
