Narendra Modi | Photo Credit: Twitter

Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress and slammed the grand old party on the issue of cow protection. "Is it the same Congress which praises the cow in Madhya Pradesh and mentions some schemes in its poll manifesto, but slaughters calves on the streets of Kerala and eats beef?" Modi asked the crowd.

Addressing a rally here in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the PM accused the Congress of misguiding people and said that the people of Madhya Pradesh will not give importance to that party.

Modi was apparently referring to an incident in Kerala's Kannur last year when a calf was slaughtered to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's notification on the sale of cattle for slaughter.

In 2017, youth groups of the CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-headed UDF butchered a calf in Kannur in full public view. Later, they cooked its meat and distributed it during a “Beef Fest” to protest against the Central government’s new rules which banned the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter.

After facing flak from different quarters Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi condemned the slaughter and called the incident “barbaric and completely unacceptable”.

The Congress, in its manifesto for the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, has talked about commercial production of "gaumutra" (cow urine) and "kanda" (cowdung cakes).

The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will go to the polls on November 28 and the results will be announced on December 11.