Indian voters hoof cow minister

India’s only dedicated “cow minister” has been dumped in state elections, ending a controversial tenure that saw hundreds of the sacred animals starve to death on his watch.

Otaram Dewasi, the first head of Rajasthan’s cow ministry, was turfed out on Tuesday when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was thumped in the desert state and two other key regional polls.

He was not the only noteworthy casualty from India’s governing party, with the country’s only “happiness minister ”— who stands accused of murder

— also tossed aside by voters in central Madhya Pradesh state.

Dewasi lost by 10,000 votes to an independent candidate.

Hindus consider cows sacred and the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has campaigned for their protection at state and national levels, and introduced harsh penalties for mistreating them.

But the cause has spawned cow vigilantism in parts of India, with people accused of carrying beef or slaughtering the animals

— especially Muslims and lowcaste Hindus, who consume beef — murdered by mobs.

The state created India’s first ministry exclusively for cow protection in 2015 when the BJP won elections and appointed Dewasi, a policeman turned politician, to be in charge.

He imposed a 20% surcharge on new property purchases — dubbed a “cow tax” — to generate cash to run the 2,300 shelters in his state for abandoned cows. But his reputation was marred in 2016 when 500 cows starved to death at a state-run shelter when the facility was flooded during heavy rains.

Meanwhile, voters in Madhya Pradesh booted out Lalsingh Arya, the state minister in charge of India’s only “happiness ministry”, after a scandalridden term.

The ministry he helped set up in 2017 was modelled on the “gross national happiness” index used in Bhutan to measure the wellbeing of citizens.

But weeks after it was launched, Arya was arrested for murdering a political rival in 2009. His trial is ongoing.

HE IMPOSED A 20% SURCHARGE ON NEW PROPERTY PURCHASES — DUBBED A ‘COW TAX’

— TO GENERATE CASH FOR COW SHELTERS