Opposition Congress workers on Monday waved black flags at Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s convoy in Golaghat district as they were protesting the alleged sale of 90 Gir cows, which were procured by the government, to individuals including a minister’s wife. Four people were detained in connection with this incident, the police said.
The Congress party had launched protests in all district headquarters against the alleged sale of the cows procured during the 2022-23 financial year by the state government for its Garukhuti Agricultural Project.
Public health engineering department minister Jayanta Malla Baruah recently claimed that 90 of these cows were sold off to private individuals as there was ”inadequate infrastructure” to house them. Subsequently, a list was released which showed that the minister’s wife had allegedly bought 20 of these cows.
Besides protests, the Congress also filed complaints in various police stations seeking action against the minister for alleged ”misappropriation of public property, cheating and corruption” in connection with the procurement of cows for the project.
The chief minister, who was on a day-long visit to Golaghat, later told reporters: ”The Congress will have to protest. How will they survive otherwise? I really appreciate that they came out in this heat to protest. They too have to answer to their leaders,” he added.
Referring to the sale of cows, Sarma said that it is surprising that a party that supports ‘qurbani’ during Eid is now protesting against cows who were saved and given shelter. ”It is the BJP’s ‘dharma’ to protect cows and that is what some of them have done. The Congress has no moral right to protest against this,” he said.
