Lucknow: Farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki, reportedly released hundreds of cattle at an open ground near the venue of a rally by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday to highlight the issue of stray cattle in their area.
In a video tweeted by several users, hundreds of unattended cattle can be seen walking on an open ground.
Watch video here:
While the Chief Minister or the Barabanki administration did not immediately respond to the development, Yogi Adityanath tweeted a reminder last evening posting a video clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurance last week to solve the issue of stray cattle in UP if the BJP retained power in the state.
"A new system will be made after March 10 to deal with the problems that you people face due to stray animals. A system will be made so that you can earn income from the dung of an animal that does not give milk," PM Modi said at a rally on Sunday.
The opposition Congress hit back with a tweet quoting CM Yogi's post. The grand old party slammed the BJP government for "ignoring" the problem for the last five years. It said CM Yogi and PM Modi found time to remember the stray cattle issue only before the assembly polls.
"The number of bulls in UP must have risen by five times than the number of new BJP members in the last five years. As soon as election is here, they are saying they will find a solution to stray cattle menace. BJP workers are shocked to hear this. Both the BJP government and bulls will go away," the Congress tweeted.
In 2019, the UP government allocated funds for cow shelters in the state budget, and asked district administrations and municipal corporations to make arrangements for the same, NDTV reported.
The yogi Adityanath government had also issued an order enabling companies to use corporate social responsibility, or CSR, funds to offer facilities for abandoned cows in rural regions.
However, many ground reports indicate that the stray cattle menace across UP is forcing farmers to fence their lands with wire and spend nights guarding their fields from being damaged.
