New Delhi, Apr 1 (India Today) : All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen Party president Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for its 'hypocrisy' on beef and ban on cow slaughter.

This week, Nagaland BJP chief Visasolie Lhoungu told the Hindustan Times, "Ban on cow slaughter like the one in UP won't take effect in Nagaland if our party comes to power next year. The reality here is very different and our central leaders are aware of that."

Reacting to this and the Yogi Adityanath government's drive to strictly enforce Uttar Pradesh's ban on cow slaughter, Owaisi said the BJP's hypocrisy is that in Uttar Pradesh cow is revered as a mother but in the Northeast it is the animal's meat is part of the normal diet.

"In UP, cow is mummy, and in the northeastern states it's yummy. This shows BJP's hypocrisy. While they are talking about beef ban in UP, they have said there would be no such thing in the northeast.

"Assembly elections are going to be held in three states in the northeast. Beef is easily available in (BJP-ruled) Goa. You tell me what is this," he told a TV news channel.

Since coming to power in UP, Adityanath has ordered strict enforcement of the state's existing ban on slaughter. The Uttar Pradesh government has also taken strict action against abbatoirs operating illegally and without a license.

In a related development, the BJP government in Gujarat toughened its law banning cow slaughter making it a non-bailable offence that can attract a life term in jail. Carrying of beef has also become a non-bailable offence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state and can attract seven to ten years in jail.