AHMEDABAD: It will be a life term punishment for cow slaughter in Gujarat after an amended law was cleared on the last day of the state assembly session on Friday.
The Gujarat Animal Preservation Act of 1954 also says the punishment for transporting of cows will be 10 years in jail.
However, in the current law, which was amended in 2011, the maximum jail term for cow slaughter was seven years. The new law also doubles the penalty for the offence from Rs. 50,000.
The bill was passed in the absence of the opposition Congress, which had walked out on some other subject.
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Yogi Adityanath has also been invited to campaign in Gujarat, a move that the opposition Congress says indicates a plan to polarise voters.
The slaughter and transport of cows was banned in Gujarat in 2011, when the state was ruled by Narendra Modi, now Prime Minister.
The BJP has governed the PM’s home state since 1998. As it seeks a fifth consecutive term this year, it faces the challenge of disenchantment among its former supporters the Patels over quota and anger over attacks on Dalits.
The party’s slogan “UP mein 325, Gujarat mein 150” (325 seats in UP, 150 in Gujarat) conveys its aim to win Gujarat with a record margin, the sort it won in India’s most populous state.
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