Angry farmers released hundreds of stray cattle onto an open ground in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, about 40 kilometres from Lucknow, where Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was scheduled to address an election rally.
According to the reports, the stray cattle were released barely a few hours before Adityanath's rally on Tuesday triggering panic among the district officials, who, with the help of the police, managed to prevent the stray cattle from entering the rally venue by putting up barricades.
A video showing hundreds of stray cattle in an open ground went viral on social media sites. "The CM should also know about the problems being faced by the farmers because of the stray cattle," a local farmer in Barabanki said.
Reports said that the meeting could have been disrupted had the stray been able to reach the venue. The administration succeeded in their attempt to prevent their entry as the CM was delayed by around an hour.
Adityanath, however, for the first time, spoke of the stray cattle menace, which has threatened to become a major issue in the ongoing assembly polls. "We will not allow cow slaughter and also take steps to prevent damage of crops by the stray cattle," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed an election rally at Baharaich, which was not very far from Barabanki, also spoke of the stray cattle issue. "We are taking the issue seriously... we have found ways to resolve the issue...once we form our government after March ten (counting of votes) we will implement the new schemes aimed at resolving the problem arising out of the stray cattle," Modi said.
Earlier also stray cattle had disrupted election rallies of BJP and SP leaders in different parts of the state.
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