Meat exports growing in Modi’s Gujarat too, says Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi raked up the issue of meat export for the third day running on Thursday, accusing the Congress of promoting slaughterhouses in the country. The Congress retorted that Mr. Modi was indulging in doublespeak as Gujarat, too, exported meat and accused him of trying to “communalise animal husbandry.” Having painted an alarmist picture of the growth in India’s meat exports while addressing rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar earlier this week, Mr. Modi on Thursday broached the issue againin Ghaziabad, which has a sizeable Gujjar population, a cattle-rearing community. “We brought in the white revolution in the country, but the Congress wants a pink revolution,” he said, referring to the meat industry. Accusing the Centre of giving subsidies to promote cow slaughter, Mr. Modi said: “The government is not willing to provide subsidy to a person who keeps a cow but if a person wants to set up a slaughterhouse, he gets assistance.” ‘NDA too did it’ At the daily Congress press conference, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said export of buffalo meat had been continuing since 1969. About 3.5 lakh MT of buffalo meat was exported under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government in 2003-04, its last year in power. The number of abattoirs and meat-processing facilities had increased in Gujarat over the past decade and meat export from the State was also growing, Mr. Sharma said. “In India, meat production is largely a by-product of livestock production, utilising spent animals at the end of their productive life.”   The Hindu