Animal spirits! Stray cattle now a tool to register protests in UP

Stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh are now being used as a tool to register protest against the government as well as to allegedly foil political programmes, as recent incidents in the state indicate.

On Thursday, state animal husbandry minister Dharampal Singh's convoy in Bareilly was obstructed by angry locals who let loose hordes of stray cattle on the road he was to take, ostensibly to register protest against the issue and draw the minister's attention.

The incident happened when Singh, along with additional chief secretary of the department, Rajneesh Dubey, was going to lay the foundation stone of an animal polytechnic in Aonla tehsil where animals will get uninterrupted medical care.


Singh represents the Aonla assembly seat. "The villagers were persuaded to clear the road after they were given assurance by the minister," said sub-divisional magistrate Govind Ram Maurya.

Reacting to the incident, Singh said the cattle were brought as part of a "conspiracy" and made to stand there using force. "I said to the villagers, fine, I will take all the cattle away, are they willing to give me in writing that they will stop releasing them?" he said.

On Friday, in Fatehpur for a public address, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that BJP workers "sent stray cattle" to foil his party's Lohia Vahini's programme and stop his "rath". Yadav said he had videos proving this. "Our incident should also be investigated. Multiple times from Fathehpur to Banda, we escaped collisions with cattle," he said.

The issue of stray cattle has been plaguing UP ever since the current BJP government closed down illegal slaughterhouses in the state.