Meghalaya BJP leader Bernard N Marak quits over beef row

GUWAHATI: The pro-bovine movement hogging the limelight in the country has claimed an unusual victim in Meghalaya.

The BJP’s West Garo Hills district president Bernard N Marak, who promised to organise a beef festival to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three years in power, has resigned from the party. Marak had kicked up a furore in the state when he announced a couple of days back that if the saffron party comes to power in the state, it would reduce the price of beef for the sake of the poor, instead of banning it.

Marak also added that the BJP will regulate the prices of not only beef, but other meat also. “In Meghalaya, most BJP leaders eat beef and the Centre cannot enforce a ban on its consumption. The question of banning beef does not arise in a state like Meghalaya, especially in Garo Hills,” he had said. Shibun Lyngdoh, BJP state unit president, confirmed to ET: “Marak has resigned from the party.”

The Centre’s notification on the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter has evoked sharp reaction in Meghalaya with some BJP leaders expressing their reservations on such a notification in Christian-dominated Meghalaya. BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli blamed the Congress for spreading rumours on the beef ban.