"What's this mummy, yummy thing" -- Subramanian Swamy slams Asaduddin Owaisi for accusing BJP of hypocrisy on cow slaughter

New Delhi: A day after Asaduddin Owaisi accused the BJP of hypocrisy over the beef ban, BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy took on the AIMIM leader and stated that latter does not hold faith in the Indian Constitution.

"What's this mummy, yummy thing. Owaisi says he has faith in the Indian Constitution. Article 48 of the Constitution says cow slaughter will be prohibited. Let him say he has no faith in some articles of the Constitution, then we will see," Swamy said.

Article 48 of the Constitution says, "The State shall endeavor to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle."

Earlier today, Owaisi mocked the BJP for its apparently contradictory stance on cow slaughter in the Northeast.

"In UP, a cow is a mummy, and in the northeastern states, it's yummy. This shows BJP's hypocrisy. While they are talking about the 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," Owaisi told a TV news channel.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh too slammed Owaisi for his comments on the saffron party.

"Such wild allegations should not be made. We worship cows, we preserve them. He (Owaisi) cannot make such observations about the entire northeast," he said in Manipur capital Imphal.

In Manipur, the erstwhile Maharaja had in 1939 decreed prosecution for cow slaughter, but buffalo meat is consumed widely.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi supported Owaisi's hypocrisy remark against BJP, saying it has been used by the saffron party as a "tool to further its politics".

"We have heard what Raman Singh has said....What's happening in UP. The hypocrisy behind cow protection is obvious. Saying that there will be no beef ban in northeastern states is political opportunism," she said.

Soon after assuming office, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered strict enforcement of the ban on cow slaughter and smuggling. Slaughter of buffaloes for meat is, however, allowed in the state. Buffalo meat trade in the state has been badly hit by the clampdown on illegal abattoirs.