gurgaon

Updated: Sep 13, 2016 16:32 IST

An innovative “anti-communal” protest by the Aam Aadmi Party involving a Rs 25,000 cow spectacularly backfired in Gurgaon.

The AAP had planned to tether the cow outside the house of Haryana minister Rao Narbir Singh on Sunday to highlight the BJP’s alleged divisive politics on cow protection across the nation.

But minutes after the cow was tied outside Singh’s house, his staff came and took the cow inside and later transferred it to the minister’s farmhouse.

The cow has been shifted to the minister's farmhouse at Narsinghpur. Minister’s staff refused to return the cow to the AAP member and said they will take care of the cow now. (HT Photo)

The AAP protest was part of a broader plan to tether cows outside the residences of all Haryana ministers and make them take care of the cattle. But the future of the drive is doubtful now.

A bigger embarrassment for the AAP was that the milch cow belonged to a party worker.

“We milked the cow on Sunday evening and shifted it to the farmhouse. We are taking good care of the cow. Some person approached us twice on Sunday evening to return the cow but we refused since it was left at the doorsteps of the minister,” said Laxmi Narayan Yadav, personal assistant to the minister.

The AAP had initially planned to use a stray cow for the protest but didn’t, suspecting that they could be implicated in a police case by BJP members if someone posed as the owner of the cattle.

AAP member Rajpal Bhadana, who owned the cow, said he initially asked the minister’s staff to return the cow but has now dropped the idea. “The cow belongs to the party and I will not demand it back again,” said Bhadana, who is now left only with one cow.

AAP spokesperson RS Rathee said party volunteers would track how the cow is served and kept.

Read more: Cop on the cattle beat: IPS officer Bharti Arora protects Haryana cows