CATTLE BATTLE

Will the BJP’s bovine obsession dent its electoral fortunes in the cow belt state?

- PRASHANT SRIVASTAVA

They are everywhere—on the streets, blocking traffic, and in the fields, wreaking havoc on men and crops. Stray cattle, or awara pashu, as they are called in local parlance, have become enough of an issue in the cow belt state of Uttar Pradesh to influence—if not decide— the electoral outcome in many seats.

“I am so angry,” says Rajwati, a resident of Gulab Kheda village in the state’s Unnao district, which goes to polls on February 23. “I will not vote for any party because none of them is raising this serious issue. Our men have to be on guard in the fields at night because of the stray cattle. Due to this, my husband is unable to give enough time to his family.”

Another farmer from Amroha, Lal Kumar Singh, bemoans: “Stray cattle roam freely in our area and destroy our wheat, pulse, and mustard crop. Last year, when people from the Adampur, Beejhalpur, Sheetal Daray and Putsal villages locked abandoned cows in the premises of a school after they destroyed their crop, the police booked them for cruelty to animals.”

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has never made any secret of his bovine priorities. Shortly after taking over, he announced a ban on cow smuggling and ordered a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses. The subsequent cow vigilantism resulted in an increase in bovine-related violence, including lynching. The number of cow protection centers in the state has gone up to 5,617 from 586 such centres for destitute cows in urban centres. The government has also set up 3,458 bhoosa or fodder banks across districts and arranged 887,000 quintal of fodder for cattle it prefers to call nirashrit (without shelter) rather than