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Parrikar's beef: Caught between factions, Goa CM can't take position on the ban

While core BJP supporters expect him to remain firm, coalition partner Goa Forward, speaking for the state's powerful church and meat traders' lobby, is opposed to the ban.

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Parrikar's beef: Caught between factions, Goa CM can't take position on the ban
Photo by: Mandar Deodhar

Manohar Parrikar is in a bind, caught between violently conflicting voices on the beef ban, even as he prepares for a critical byelection in Panaji in August. While core BJP supporters expect the chief minister to remain firm on the party's position, coalition partner Goa Forward, speaking for the state's powerful church and meat traders' lobby, is opposed to the ban.

Belligerent voices, such as that of Sadhvi Saraswati, president of the Sanatan Dharma Prachar Seva Samiti, are fuelling this fire. Speaking at the All India Hindu Conclave, held from June 14 to 18 at Ramnathi Temple in Goa, Saraswati demanded the government publicly hang those who eat beef. This prompted an instant response from Goa Forward's Vijai Sardesai, who is also the state's town planning minister. "People like Sadhvi Saraswati should come to Goa only as tourists," he said, going on to say that Saraswati had no understanding of Goans' eating habits. Struggling to strike a balance between opponents and supporters of the beef ban, Parrikar was forced to remain silent when Sardesai stated that the government would consider banning the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for creating communal disharmony, after senior VHP members allegedly said they would 'force' the beef ban on Goans.

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Parrikar seems unable to take a clear position. While on the one hand he points fingers at the Congress government in neighbouring Karnataka for stopping cattle trucks headed for Goa, on the other he blames the trouble on "people's ignorance" and deliberate attempts to "create confusion". By the look of things, it's not going to be an easy bypoll for him.