BJP beef advert raises tensions in Bihar ahead of Thursday polling

Patna: A front-page advertisement by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about the consumption of beef kicked up a major controversy on Wednesday ahead of the final round of voting in Bihar on Thursday, with the rival Grand Secular Alliance lodging a strong protest with the Election Commission, describing it a violation of the model code of conduct.

The ad, featuring a woman hugging a cow, questions the “silence” of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over purported statements by his allies endorsing the consumption of beef.

“Mr Chief Minister, your allies kept on insulting the holy cow of every Indian and you kept quiet. Stop vote-bank politics and explain whether you agree with the statements of your friends (on beef-eating),” says the BJP ad that appeared in all vernacular dailies in the border districts, which go to polls on Thursday in the final round of voting.

The ad quotes alleged statements by three rival leaders over this issue. The first is Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad who is believed to have said “Hindus also eat beef”. It quotes another senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh commenting that “Hindu scriptures say saints too used to eat beef in ancient times”. In the end, the advertisement quotes Karnataka chief minister Siddramaiah reportedly saying that no one can stop him from eating beef if he wants so.

Observers say the BJP’s move could be part of its strategy to foment religious sentiments and polarise the Hindus voters with most of the nine districts going to polls on Thursday are identified as Muslim-dominated.

Especially, four of the nine border districts, such as Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia and Katihar have dominant population of Muslims and thus their votes are crucial for victory of any party.

The rival Grand Secular Alliance headed by chief minister Kumar termed the ad as “highly objectionable”. Later in the day, a delegation of Grand Alliance leaders called on the Election Commission and sought action against the BJP describing it as a complete violation of poll code.

“The advertisement was against the model code of conduct and hence the party which issued it should be punished,” Janata Dal United (JD-U) general secretary KC Tyagi told the media on Wednesday. He also threatened to seek intervention of the President in the event of the Election Commission failing to act against the BJP.

RJD chief Prasad came down heavily on the BJP, accusing the saffron camp of trying to disturb communal peace in the region for votes.

“The people of Bihar will not allow such elements creating communal tension in the region. No one is in favour of cow slaughter,” Prasad said adding instead of questioning them, the BJP should first give an explanation over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agreement for Rs400 billion (Dh22.5 billion) beef exports.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who has openly exhorted voters to support the Grand Alliance’s CM candidate Kumar in the election, also condemned the advert by the BJP through a series of tweets on Wednesday.

“Have these ads been given by BJP’s fringe elements? Or, by BJP top brass?” Kejriwal tweeted on Wednesday, adding it was important for the BJP to lose assembly elections in Bihar to realise “hate politics” won’t work in India.

“It is important that BJP lose Bihar so that they know that hate politics will not work in this country,” the Delhi CM said in another tweet adding, “People want love and peace, not hate”.

Kejriwal also requested Bihar residents settled in Delhi to call up their relatives and friends in their poll-bound state and request them to vote for Kumar who responded with a very quick “Thank you” on his microblogging site.

The beef controversy generated last fortnight after RJD chief Prasad allegedly supported “beef-eating”, reacting to the lynching of a Muslim member by a mob over rumours of beef-eating in a Uttar Pradesh village as the BJP launched an aggressive campaign over the issue with the Prime Minister himself attacking the RJD chief ruthlessly at his election rallies.