As the Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections move east, “Awara Pashu” or stray cattle is becoming an increasingly prominent issue, much to the displeasure of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The reason is simple: West UP is mostly a buffalo belt, and the herd – the cow and her offspring – grows as you go east. As a result, according to the 2019 Livestock Census, the number of buffalo in these three districts far exceeds that of cattle in Agra (1,067,000), Bulandshahr (972,000) and Aligarh (942,000) – 283,000, 304,000 and 311,000 respectively Ten thousand. In contrast, Gorakhpur (287,000 to 253,000), Deoria (288,000 to 191,000) and Mirzapur (511,000 to 288,000) had more cattle than buffalo.

The impact of the cattle slaughter ban – strictly enforced by the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath – is clearly visible locally.

According to Ramchandra Tripathi, a farmer from Basevarai in Harraiya Tehsil, Basti district, five years ago, there were no stray cattle in his village. “Today we have 50-60 saand (bulls),” said the 57-year-old, who grows 50 hectares of sugar cane, 22 hectares of wheat, 18 hectares of mustard and the remaining 100 bigha (20 acres) of various Vegetables and fodder. The Indian Express alone counts a dozen or so animals devouring the standing mustard in nearby fields.

“They destroyed my wheat in three of the five large hectares,” complains Shiv Prasad Verma, who grows mustard in another three and sugarcane in two. “Five years ago, we all sang gau hatya band karo (stop slaughtering cows) and voted for BJP in 2017 (UP parliamentary elections) and 2019 (Lok Sabha). But this time, we fully support Triyambak Nath Pathak (Samajwadi Party candidate from Harraiya). The only reason is Awara Pashu,” explained Sudhir Kumar Tiwari, 25, who grows 10 wheat, 5 sugar cane, 3 mustard and 20 bigha masoor (lentils) of 2.

Crop damage caused by bison was not a major issue in the pre-yogi era, when the ban on slaughtering was largely a matter of paper. But as the number of bulls, bulls, and non-dairy cows that farmers themselves release has multiplied over time, political influence may be in the eastern “dairy belt” rather than the western “buffalo belt.” An indicator of this was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at a BJP rally in Unau on Sunday, in which he pledged to take measures after March 10, when the results of the ongoing investigation are announced. New policy to tackle the “stray animal problem”.

Complete News Source : The Indian Express