Delhi and Nagpur Won't Tell Us What to Eat, Says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ramped up his attack on the Centre over an India-wide ban on the sale of cattle, and not just cow, for slaughter at animal markets.

Taking a dig at the BJP-ruled Centre and the RSS, Pinarayi Vijayan said he didn’t need a “lesson in food habits from New Delhi or Nagpur”. "The state government will give all facilities to people to have food of their choice. There is no need for Keralites to learn it from anybody in New Delhi or Nagpur." The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is headquartered in Nagpur.

The Kerala government is said to be mulling a new law to counter the central ban on sale of cattle for slaughter as the political slugfest over the issue intensified fuelled by a row over alleged ox slaughter allegedly by Youth Congress activists.

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Police have registered a case against a Youth Congress worker and his accomplices for the alleged ox slaughter in Kannur during a 'beef fest' organised across the state by the Congress and the Left to protest the Centre's ban.

Latching onto the issue, the NDA in Kerala has decided to observe Tuesday as a day of protest against the incident. Kerala BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan posted the video of the alleged incident on Twitter, calling it "cruelty at its peak" and said no normal person can behave in this manner.

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"A case has been registered under Sect 120 A of the Kerala Police Act on the basis of a complaint of Yuva Morcha activist", Kannur SP Siva Vikram, told PTI.

The offence deals with slaughtering any animal in a way that causes annoyance or inconvenience to the public and is punishable with imprisonment up to one year or a fine of up to Rs 5,000 or with both.

An embarrassed Congress sought to distance itself, saying the party will not support anyone who has violated the law, but the Youth Congress activist Rijil Makulti who led the protest said he had no regrets.

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"If anyone has violated the law then he should be dealt with accordingly and the Congress party will not support him. However, we need to first establish whether the person in the video is related to the party or not," said Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press briefing in Delhi.

However, Rijil Makulti told a television channel, "We don't regret our act. This was done as part of our protest."

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the incident was “completely unacceptable” to him and the party.