SP questions BJP’s silence over meat supply

MEERUT: Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for being silent on the issue of slaughterhouses in its manifesto for the upcoming local bodies’ elections.

SP’s district unit president Rajpal Singh accused the BJP of polarising votes by discriminating people on religious lines.

Singh said that the municipal corporation was bound by its bi-laws to ensure supply of meat for local residents and it could be done only by operating a legal slaughterhouse.

He said not only Muslims but Hindus were also non-vegetarian and the local body should cater to their needs. The only slaughterhouse in the town which was operated under the supervision of the municipal corporation was closed four years ago and instructions were issued to construct a unit near Ghosipur village.

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We don’t want to run anything illegally but it is the responsibility of the government to ensure proper supply of meat.

HAJI AIYAA, meat plant owner

Former president of state BJP Laxmikant Bajpai released the party’s manifesto on Friday in the presence of MP Rajendra Aggarwal and other leaders .

The manifesto has maintained silence on issue of slaughterhouse to cater to the local residents.

Haji Hakimuddin, who is in meat business since 1952, said Ghosipur slaughterhouse was also not operational which had led to an acute crisis of meat for thousands of families which depended on it.