Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath about the death of cows in Lalitpur district, alleging administrative neglect and corruption leading to the painful tragedy.

Accusing the BJP government of doing nothing for the cows despite lofty promises and cow-centric propaganda, Priyanka said, “We are not aware how so many cows died in Lalitpur’ Saujana but the photographs of the bodies are disturbing. It appears the cows died of starvation. It is apparent the tragedy occurred because they were not fed for days together. This is not the first incident. Who is responsible for these deaths?”

She added: “Several promises were made for cow protection before the BJP came to power but the truth is that the government has miserably failed. It is true that cowsheds were opened but there are no arrangements for feeding them and corrupt officials have shown gross insensitivity, leaving the cows to starve to death. On the other hand, there is a new problem of stray animals which has troubled the farmers across the state. The farmers are spending thousands on fencing of their fields to protect their crops.”

She advised the Yogi government to learn from Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh where Godhan Nyay Yojna has effectively tackled the stray cattle menace and bolstered rural economy.

Under the scheme launched last July, the Bhupesh Baghel government buys cow-dung for Rs 2 per kg and use it to manufacture natural fertiliser that is sold at Rs 8 per kg. She claimed that cowsheds are now becoming financially self-sufficient as the government is buying cow dung worth Rs 15 crore every month.

This scheme has encouraged cattle-rearing and compelled the owners to keep the cows at home to collect cow-dung, controlling the damages caused by stray cattle to the standing crop. Women self-help groups have been engaged to prepare vermicompost from it, which will also reduce the farmers’ dependence on chemical fertiliser and boost fertility of soil.

The Congress is also confronting the Yogi government on this issue to expose their hypocrisy about cow protection and challenge its monopoly over this emotional issue which feeds Hindutva politics. By citing Chhattisgarh’s example and recalling how strongly Mahatma Gandhi felt about cows, Priyanka is conveying a message that cow protection is not a Sangh Parivar agenda, a perception cultivated over years because other parties were not vocal about these basics.

The Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh had also taken innovative measures on cow protection and taken care to publicise them with a clear objective of countering the RSS-BJP propaganda.