Whose cow is it anyway?

The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of milking the issue of cow slaughter for political ends. On Sunday, at a meeting in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, Yadav said the BJP had nothing to do with the cow and that traditionally, it was the Yadav community that was associated with the rearing of cows. Reacting to the statement the next day, state BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the remark was not only insensitive but also "aimed at milking the cow as a symbol of politics".