New cattle Bill in Assam dictated by RSS: Cong

Guwahati: The new cattle Bill presented by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is a "copy-paste" of the ordinance on cow protection introduced by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh which has been unnecessarily pushed in Assam on behalf of the RSS, senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said Tuesday.

The key provisions of the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill 2021, introduced in the state legislative assembly on Monday, are already present in the earlier law enacted in 1950 and there was no need for a new legislation, the Congress Lok Sabha MP said while addressing a press conference here.

He further said that the legislation is meant to cover-up the state government's failure in COVID management.

"All the key provisions of this Bill are already present in the existing law of 1950. Why was that not amended if needed, and implemented properly?

"Where is the need for a new law? The Government does not need a new law to tackle the problem of cow smuggling," he said.

This bill is nothing but a "ploy to divert attention from the government's failure in COVID management and vaccinating people in the state", son of veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi and MP from Kaliabor, added.

"It is a copy-paste job of the ordinance on cow protection that the BJP introduced in UP. The bill has been introduced by the chief minister at the behest of the RSS.

Nagpur is directly dictating terms in Assam", Gogoi alleged.

He said the Congress has since long been highlighting the need for protection of cows and also regularly raised the issue of illegal cow syndicate flourishing in Assam under the BJP government.

The party in its 2021 assembly election manifesto had promised construction of 'gaushalas' in every district, he said.

The people of Assam have always revered the cow and celebrate "goru-bihu" during the Rongali Bihu festival and "in fact this aspect of our culture should be taken to all parts of India", Gogoi asserted.

Besides, the bill, if converted into an Act, will be misused, and sound the death-knell for thousands of dairy farmers and cooperatives in the state.