NCP leader snaps at Digvijaya's cow slaughter ban remark

The NCP in Goa Friday responded strongly to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's endorsement of a cow slaughter ban by advising him to become a Hindu seer and quit politics.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) vice president Trajano D'Mello addressed a press conference at the party's state headquarters, where he responded to the Congress general secretary's wholehearted support to a call for a ban on cow slaughter, made at a convention of Hindu groups which ended Thursday.

"If he believes in that, he should become a Hindu sadhu and quit political life," D'Mello said.

On Thursday, while addressing a press conference at the Congress House in Panaji, Singh said: "I, being a Hindu, support a ban on cow slaughter."

The AICC general secretary in-charge of the party's affairs in Goa was responding to a resolution passed by a convention of Hindu groups in Goa, seeking a ban on cow slaughter.

D'Mello now claims that Singh is playing petty politics in the name of religion.

"If he is a good Hindu, then he should continue to follow Hinduism, but he should say Ram-Ram (goodbye) to Congress president Sonia Gandhi."

"You cannot mix your personal religion and beliefs with politics. You have to leave your personal beliefs at home when you are in public life," D'Mello said.