Cattle slaughter ban up to state governments: Shah

It was up to the respective state BJP governments to decide on banning cattle slaughter, after taking into account the sentiments of the local population, party president Amit Shah said on Thursday.

Shah clarified that the comments made by union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, asking beef eaters to go to Pakistan, were made in a personal capacity, but also spelled out the Bharatiya Janata Party's stand on banning beef.

"We said wherever there are BJP governments, we will try to ban cattle slaughter, only after taking public sentiment into account," the BJP chief said at a press conference here held on the completion of one year of the Narendra Modi government.

Asked about taunts by the Shiv Sena about alleged U-turns by the BJP on granting statehood to Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, Shah said: "We have never had a stand for Vidarbha. It was a demand, some people are supporting it, some are opposing it."

On the Ram Mandir issue, Shah said it could be resolved either by court, where the case was pending, or by forming consensus among the stakeholders.

"Whichever happens earlier, it should be built," Shah said.