Sonowal govt in Assam running cross-border cow smuggling syndicate, alleges Chhattisgarh CM

GUWAHATI: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said while the BJP seeks votes in the name of cows countrywide, the party in Assam was sponsoring and carrying out cow trade across the border with Bangladesh. 

He accused the Sarbananda Sonowal government of running a systematic syndicate. “It is a fact that the meat export of Bangladesh has grown many folds in the last few years. Ever since the BJP has come to power in Assam in 2016, cow trade and exports of cow meat in Bangladesh have gone up by 211% just in two years,” Baghel claimed.

“Sonowal government has been claiming that they are stopping this cow trade and has claimed of many hundreds of seizures of cows. If it is true, then where are the cows being kept? We understand that the task of cow protection has been given to the Animal Husbandry Department instead of the police. Now, we know why. Former Central Minister and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi has raised this issue too,” he said.

The Chhattisgarh CM said systematic syndicate is not limited to just cow trading. He said the Sonowal government has broken all records in coal brokerage and illegal coal trading. Almost 500 trucks of illegal coal transportation are taking place every day. Besides this, there are syndicates dealing in bamboo, betel leaf, fish etc, he claimed.

Baghel also tried to exploit the perceived leadership tussle in the state’s ruling BJP. “The Assam government is driven by two engines. One is pulling it in one direction while the other is pulling it in the opposite direction,” he told journalists on Wednesday evening.

Through the statement, the Chhattisgarh CM sought to suggest that there are two power centres in the state. “You all know who I am talking about. The people of Assam know,” he said without giving the names.