JDS 'completely' opposes the anti-cow slaughter bill: Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda

 Former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday reiterated his party's opposition to the anti-cow slaughter bill passed in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

"The BJP has gone ahead to pass the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill-2020 in the Karnataka Legislature, which will cause unrest in the society and disturb the growth of people," Gowda said in a statement.

The bill -- Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill-2020 -- was listed to be tabled in the Legislative Council, where the ruling BJP does not enjoy a majority, on Tuesday as per the day's agenda.

But, that was not to be as the Council witnessed high drama on Tuesday with members hurling abuses and pushing each other and Deputy Chairman being pulled down from the Chairman's seat, over a row pertaining to no-confidence motion, and it was adjourned since dying within minutes after it met for the day.

Currently, the ruling BJP is the single largest party in the Council with 31 members, followed by Congress with 29 including the chairman. The JD(S) has 14 members and there is one independent.

"Our party Janata Dal Secular 'completely' opposes this bill", Deve Gowda said.

According to him, the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act-1964 is already in place.

However, in 2010 the then BJP government had introduced the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill-2010 which proposed to increase the punishment and fine from one to seven times keeping a community in mind and to target them.

The 87-year-old JD(S) patriarch said the governor at the time had referred it to then-President Pratibha Patil stating that certain provisions in the law need her approval, he added.

After the change in government in 2013, the bill was withdrawn by the then Congress government, Gowda explained.

Deve Gowda's statement came on a day when the BJP was planning to move a no-confidence motion against the chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council K Prathapachandra Shetty and unseat him with the JD(S) help.

The JD(S) had supported the government in the passage of the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act-2020 in the Council on December seven.

The JD(S) second-in-command and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had shown some soft corner towards the BJP when he recently said the goodwill of the people of Karnataka he had earned while heading a coalition government with the BJP in 2006-07 was lost when he tied up with the Congress in 2018-19 and became the Chief Minister of the coalition government. 

(IMAGE CREDITS: PTI)