Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared that he would be willing to outlaw beef in Assam if state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah wrote to him proposing it. His comments followed the Congress party’s claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gave beef to voters to win the by-elections in the predominantly Muslim Samaguri constituency. Sarma added that he was pleased that the opposition party made the allegation over the Samaguri seat, which had been won by the Congress for five consecutive terms till now.
“Samaguri was with Congress for 25 years. Congress losing a constituency like Samaguri by 27,000 votes (sic) is the biggest shame in its history,” he highlighted on 30th November while talking to the media and added, “It is one of the darkest chapters the the history of Congress. BJP’s victory is as significant as Congress’ loss. It’s a major disgrace for them”, Sarma stated.
A by-election last month saw the saffron party’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah defeat Congress’s Tanzil who is the son of party’s Lok Sabha MP Rakibul Hussain, by 24,501 votes.
Afterwards, Hussain also accused Sarma of hosting a beef party to woo the Muslim voters in his party’s favour.
मैं खुश हूं कि असम के अल्पसंख्यक कांग्रेस नेता गौमांस के विरोध में हैं। अगर वे मुझे पत्र लिखते हैं, तो हम सर्वसम्मति से गौमांस पर प्रतिबंध लगाने का निर्णय करेंगे। pic.twitter.com/9sYkxVvAoj
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) December 1, 2024
“But amidst sadness, Rakibul Hussain said one good thing that eating beef is wrong, isn’t it? He said that it was wrong for BJP to win elections by offering beef party to voters. I want to know if Congress was winning Samaguri by offering beef to voters. He knows Samaguri very well. Does it mean that Samaguri can be won by offering beef,” the chief minister asked.
Hussain served as a Samaguri MLA for five straight terms before entering the parliament. This year, he won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of more than 10.12 lakh votes.
Sarma then conveyed, “I want to tell Rakibul Hussain that beef should be banned as he himself said it is wrong. He only needs to give me in writing that neither BJP nor Congress should speak about beef, in fact, it should be banned in Assam. If we do that, all problems will be solved.”
Additionally, in light of Hussain’s statement, Sarma mentioned that he would write to the head of the state Congress regarding his position on beef and prohibit it in the entire northeastern state if the latter sends a written request to him. Sarma expressed that he was happy that the opposition party raised the matter.
He further challenged, “So, I will write to Bhupen Borah and ask him if he also advocates banning beef in line with Rakibul Hussain, and just inform me. I will completely ban beef at the next assembly (accordingly). Then BJP, AGP, CPM, nobody will be able to offer, and Hindus, Muslims and Christians all should stop eating beef, and all problems will be solved. I am happy that Rakibul Hussain has made this statement because at least one step has been taken. Now, the second step should be taken by Bhupen Borah.”
The Assam Cattle Preservation Act of 2021 forbids the slaughter and sale of beef in places where the main population is Hindu, Jains, or Sikhs, as well as within five kilometers of a temple or satra (Vaishnavite monastery). The action permits the sale of beef exclusively in specific locations and restricts all sales in areas inhabited by non-beef-eating communities.
