Cattle sale: AIADMK refuses to oppose Central notification

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday rejected the demand of the opposition parties and a few allies to pass a resolution in the Assembly against the Centre's ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, as the issue is pending in the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court.

Slamming the AIADMK government's stand, Leader of Opposition MK Stalin staged a walkout along with MLAs of his party and allies, the Congress and IUML. Surprisingly, three pro-AIADMK MLAs too joined the Opposition walkout.

Palaniswami told the House that the cow slaughter ban had been in force in the state for over 40 years. "As the issue is pending in courts, we will wait for the orders. The state government will implement the court orders," he said without revealing his party's stand. "The Centre is likely to revisit the notification regulating cattle sale and animal markets. Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan has told reporters that the Centre will revisit the notification," he said, rejecting the demand for a special resolution against the Centre.

"Kerala, Meghalaya, Puducherry assemblies have passed resolutions against the trade ban. Even the BJP government in Goa has opposed the ban. But the Tamil Nadu government is silent on the issue," Stalin, who raised the issue in the House, said. He also said the AIADMK government is refusing to take

...& ANALYSIS

• Though AIADMK’s stand is that the matter is pending before the court, the party could be seen dithering from taking a stand.
   
• This is giving DMK an opportunity to accuse AIADMK of surrendering to BJP fearing IT raids.