Beef Meghalaya

The BJP in Meghalaya will not impose any restrictions on beef, which is central to the local culture, the party's state chief Ernest Mawrie told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"I cannot make a statement on the resolution adopted by other states. We are in Meghalaya, everybody eats beef, and there is no restriction," he said.

BJP minister in the Meghalaya government Sanbor Shullai encouraged the people of the state to eat more beef than chicken, mutton and fish, dispelling the apprehension that his party was against it.

Counting of votes for Assembly Elections in Meghalaya began today after it went to polls on February 27, the election commission had said earlier. Meghalaya has strength of 60 seats, but voting was held only for 59 seats after a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate was killed in Meghalaya.

Claiming that "vested interests" had misconstrued its cattle trade rule, Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has told NDTV that the government was willing to revisit the rule that bans slaughter of cattle sold in animal markets, saying "it is not a prestige issue for us".

In the backdrop of a raging debate on beef consumption, Union minister and BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu today said food is a matter of choice and he himself is a non-vegetarian.

The Bharatiya Janata Party today denied reports that it wanted to impose a ban on beef consumption in Meghalaya. A second Meghalaya BJP member quit the party in protest against the government's new rule on sale of cattle in animal markets.

A BJP leader in Meghalaya who had talked about a "beer and beef party" on his Facebook page to mark three years of his party's government at the Centre has quit. Bachu Marak is the second BJP leader - after Bernard Marak - to quit the party over the central government's new cattle trade rules banning slaughter.

A BJP leader in Meghalaya has resigned in protest against the Centre's new rule that bans cattle trade for slaughter. Bernard Marak, a leader from Garo hills, had created controversy earlier this week by promising cheap beef to people if the party came to power. Assembly elections in the hill state, where beef is staple, is due early next year.

One of the most strident supporters for a complete ban on slaughter of cows, buffaloes and ox elsewhere, the BJP has a tough balancing act to perform in Meghalaya, a Christian-dominated state in the northeast that counts beef as a basic, and affordable source of protein for the masses.

Even as the beef controversy heats up in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of North India, BJP has no plans to go hard on the beef eaters of North East.

The ruling BJP's call for a nationwide beef ban has alarmed its own members and workers in Meghalaya, where party president Amit Shah is likely to be greeted today by a protest "beef party."

The BJP in Meghalaya will not impose any restrictions on beef, which is central to the local culture, the party's state chief Ernest Mawrie told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"I cannot make a statement on the resolution adopted by other states. We are in Meghalaya, everybody eats beef, and there is no restriction," he said.

BJP minister in the Meghalaya government Sanbor Shullai encouraged the people of the state to eat more beef than chicken, mutton and fish, dispelling the apprehension that his party was against it.

Counting of votes for Assembly Elections in Meghalaya began today after it went to polls on February 27, the election commission had said earlier. Meghalaya has strength of 60 seats, but voting was held only for 59 seats after a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate was killed in Meghalaya.

Claiming that "vested interests" had misconstrued its cattle trade rule, Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has told NDTV that the government was willing to revisit the rule that bans slaughter of cattle sold in animal markets, saying "it is not a prestige issue for us".

In the backdrop of a raging debate on beef consumption, Union minister and BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu today said food is a matter of choice and he himself is a non-vegetarian.

The Bharatiya Janata Party today denied reports that it wanted to impose a ban on beef consumption in Meghalaya. A second Meghalaya BJP member quit the party in protest against the government's new rule on sale of cattle in animal markets.

A BJP leader in Meghalaya who had talked about a "beer and beef party" on his Facebook page to mark three years of his party's government at the Centre has quit. Bachu Marak is the second BJP leader - after Bernard Marak - to quit the party over the central government's new cattle trade rules banning slaughter.

A BJP leader in Meghalaya has resigned in protest against the Centre's new rule that bans cattle trade for slaughter. Bernard Marak, a leader from Garo hills, had created controversy earlier this week by promising cheap beef to people if the party came to power. Assembly elections in the hill state, where beef is staple, is due early next year.

One of the most strident supporters for a complete ban on slaughter of cows, buffaloes and ox elsewhere, the BJP has a tough balancing act to perform in Meghalaya, a Christian-dominated state in the northeast that counts beef as a basic, and affordable source of protein for the masses.

Even as the beef controversy heats up in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of North India, BJP has no plans to go hard on the beef eaters of North East.

The ruling BJP's call for a nationwide beef ban has alarmed its own members and workers in Meghalaya, where party president Amit Shah is likely to be greeted today by a protest "beef party."