'They are stopping cow slaughter but are silent on buffalo meat'

Without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday came down heavily on the party for not allowing cow slaughter but not imposing any restrictions on buffalo meat.

She was addressing a political meeting at Tarakeshwar in Hooghly on Thursday afternoon.

"It is heard that they will give Aadhaar cards to cows when several human beings do not have the cards. They will put ear rings on cows. Cow slaughter is banned but they are silent on buffalo meat as it brings business," Banerjee said sarcastically.

She added that every individual has the freedom to select his food and dressing habits. "What should I eat and what should I wear are entirely my discretion but they are trying to control the food and dress habits of the people. This is not to be allowed. They will decide whether one can take beef or mutton. Who are they to impose such restrictions," she asked.

In a Facebook post, Banerjee severely criticised the Centre for its demonetisation policy. Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in November, 2016, Mamata Banerjee was the first to protest and had said it would affect the country's economy badly.

Many people would be rendered jobless and the country's GDP would come down, she had remarked. "Right at the time of demonetization was announced by the Central government, I had voiced my concern that the country would have to face severe loss of jobs and drastic decline in productivity due to demonetization. My apprehension is now proven to be true.

The Q4 figure this fiscal has come down to 6.1%. The corresponding GDP figure in the previous fiscal was 7.9%. So, the decline is nearly 2 per cent point," she wrote on her Facebook post. She further added: "Rampant job loss has been reported across the country with the agriculture and unorganized sector being badly hit. What do the people who pushed the country to this crisis have to say?"