Congress to organise ‘Gau Raksha Yatra’, ‘maha-aarti’ in Jaipur today | The Indian Express
The Congress on Friday blamed the BJP government in Rajasthan for the ‘poor’ condition of cow shelters in the state and demanded a rescue campaign for sick cows at Hingonia Bovine Animal Rehabilitation Centre where several cows have died over the last few days.
The Jaipur unit of Congress also announced that it will organise a “Gau Raksha Padyatra”, a walk for cow protection in the state capital on Saturday, which will be followed by a ‘maha-aarti’.
“Each day hundreds of cows are dying at Hingonia gaushala yet the government and the municipal corporation have been incapable of checking and preventing their deaths,” party’s Jaipur district president Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said.
“We will seek protection for cows through Lord Krishna, because neither the government nor the municipal corporation is taking the deaths seriously. People of not just the state, but of the nation are angry over cow deaths here. We have already decided to stop the corporation from catching any more (stray) cows till it resolves the issues with Hingonia cowshed, as it has become their slaughterhouse,” Khachariyawas said.
“Despite seeking votes in the name of cows, the BJP government is not doing anything to take care of them and is trying its best to suppress this issue, rather than taking action against the guilty,” said Khachariyawas, who will lead the protest march and walk barefoot.
“The situation is very bad and thousands of cows are living in a miserable condition. The chief minister should visit the gaushala and announce a rescue campaign for the animals,” said leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi, who visited the centre on Friday. He also held the state government and its officers ‘responsible’ for the ‘sorry state of affairs’ at the gaushala.
“The BJP does politics in the name of cows but when it comes to their state of affairs, the government shows no interest. It is a matter of shame,” he added.
Dudi alleged that hundreds of cows have died over the last few days due to ‘mismanagement and lack of facilities’ at the gaushala.
Former MPs, party MLAs and other party leaders are expected to participate in the march. However, PCC president Sachin Pilot and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot are unlikely to participate in the march.
Following the cow deaths, the Chief Minister’s Officer had issued a statement on Thursday stating that everything is being done to take care of cows, which number over 8,000 at the cowshed, and the ones that died were already unwell when they were picked up as part of a campaign.
