BJP defends advt slamming Nitish's 'silence' on beef issue

BJP stoutly defended its advertisement on beef today, a day ahead of the last phase of assembly polls in Bihar saying it has rightly questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's silence on the controversial remarks made by his allies on the issue.
"There is nothing wrong in our advertisement on beef issue and asking the chief minister to break his silence on controversial remarks made by the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, his colleague Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah," senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters here.
"As far as the timing goes, it is our prerogative as to when we should put out any advertisement," he said.

His defiant stand on the issue came after the grand alliance criticised BJP for putting out the advertisement in vernacular dailies in areas going to polls tomorrow in the last phase, including Seemanchal, and said it will knock the Election Commission's doors on the issue.
The BJP advertisement had questioned the Chief Minister's "silence" on "repeated insult" to cows by grand alliance leaders as the animal is revered by the countrymen and asked Kumar to come clean on the issue and stop playing votebank politics on cow.
The advertisement also asked the Chief Minister whether he agreed with the remarks on beef eating by his friends from alliance partners.

Questioned by reporters about BJP's motive behind releasing the advertisement on beef in vernacular dailies in four districts, Sushil Modi said it was not his party that had raked up the beef issue during polls but RJD chief Lalu Prasad who had controversially said that the Hindus too eat beef.

Prasad's colleague Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had repeatedly said consumption of beef was permissible during ancient times as mentioned in Veda and related documents.
Congress leader and Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah stoked the controversy further by saying that if he wanted to eat beef no body could stop him, he said.

"Tell us who started the beef row? It was certainly not the BJP leaders, but those of the grand alliance. We have every right to respond and that is what we are doing," he said.
He denied the charge that the advertisement was aimed at reaping electoral advantage of communal polarisation and said there was nothing inflammatory in it as what the grand alliance leaders had said on the beef issue has been quoted for the consumption of the people.