Mumbai: Ruling allies BJP and NCP spoke in different voices after nearly half-a-dozen civic bodies in Maharashtra ordered closure of meat shops and abattoirs on Independence Day, while Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the government was not interested in policing people’s food choices.
Municipal corporations in Nagpur, Nashik, Malegaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Kalyan-Dombivli have issued orders directing closure of slaughterhouses and meat shops within their jurisdiction on August 15. Some of them have said these facilities will remain shut on certain other days, too, in view of Hindu and Jain festivals.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar questioned the closure, while its ally in the ruling Mahayuti coalition, BJP, defended the move, citing a 1988 state government resolution (GR) empowering civic bodies to impose such restrictions.
Opposition parties have also criticised the move.
The BJP said the policy to keep abattoirs shut on Independence Day was first implemented in 1988 when NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar was the chief minister of Maharashtra, and sought to know if the opposition would question the veteran politician about it.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye posed this question to opposition NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad and Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Aaditya Thackeray who have also opposed the closure.
Upadhye said the policy to keep abattoirs shut on August 15 was originally framed by the Congress government then led by Shankarrao Chavan.
“Within a month in 1988, Sharad Pawar became the chief minister and implemented the policy for the first time,” he said.
During the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (November 2019-June 2022), in which both Awhad and Thackeray were ministers, the same practice continued without any protest from them, the BJP member claimed.
“Will they seek a response from Sharad Pawar for taking such a decision back then? Will they criticise him too? Awhad and Thackeray should respond to it now,” Upadhye said.