Hitting out at the BJP-ruled municipal corporations for delayed payment to cow shelters in the city, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said those asking for votes in the name of cows don’t even provide fodder for them.
On a visit to a gaushala in Bawana on Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said, while the BJP-ruled civic bodies did not release funds they are supposed to give to cow shelters, his government had.
‘We just serve them’
“Those seeking votes in the name of cows don’t even give fodder for cows. We don’t play politics in the name of cows. We don’t ask for votes in the name of cows. We serve cows. I believe that there should not be any politics in the name of cows,” Mr. Kejriwal said at the Shri Krishna Gaushala in Bawana.
While the gaushalas in Delhi are operated by NGOs, they are supposed to be paid for fodder depending on the number of cows by the area Municipal Corporation. During the visit, Mr. Kejriwal was informed by the gaushala’s representatives that the Municipal Corporation had not released its share of funds for two years.
Accompanied by Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai, Mr. Kejriwal participated in a gau puja (worship of a cow) at the shelter. Mr. Kejriwal said he would be visiting a gaushala in Haryana next week on the invitation of people from that State.
On Wednesday, Mr. Rai had released the Delhi government’s Animal Health and Welfare Policy, 2018 and proposed a modernised cow shelter in Ghumanhera, where along with a gaughala, an old-age home for senior citizens, would also be made.
