These days in the political corridors of Uttar Pradesh, verbal arrows are crossing the boundaries of dignity. However, in the midst of this, an ideological war has erupted over ‘Gau Mata’ that has brought the past and present contradictions of the Congress out into the open.
The move made by UP Congress President Ajay Rai to corner Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by demanding ‘to declare Gau Mata as Rashtra Mata’ now seems to be turning into an albatross around Congress’ own neck. BJP Central General Secretary and MP Vinod Tawde has launched such a sharp and intellectual counterattack on this demand that it has proved this ‘Soft Hindutva’ tactic of the Congress to be completely ludicrous and hollow.
What is the entire controversy?
Reacting recently to a statement by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, UP Congress President Ajay Rai had said, “Yogi Ji should certainly declare ‘Gau Mata’ as the ‘Rashtra Mata’. This is our demand. Today, he is using disrespectful language and hurling abuses…”
Ajay Rai believed that by stepping onto the pitch of ‘Hindutva and Cow’—the strongest bastion of the BJP—he would push Yogi Adityanath onto the backfoot. However, BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde pulled out such evidence from the pages of history and timeless works of Hindi literature that turned this demand of the Congress into a ‘political joke’.
Attack: The Bloody History of 1966
Taking a dig at Ajay Rai’s statement, Vinod Tawde wrote on social media— “Those who fired bullets at cow-protectors and sages are talking about declaring Gau Mata as the Rajya Mata.”
Tawde’s allusion was directly towards the historic incident of November 7, 1966, when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. During the siege of Parliament House in Delhi, indiscriminate bullets were fired at unarmed Naga sadhus and cow-protectors who were demanding a legal ban on cow slaughter. Historians state that hundreds of saints lost their lives in that incident.
By weaponizing this history, the BJP has posed a question before the public— “How can the party whose hands are stained with the blood of cow-protectors talk about the honor of Gau Mata today?”
Comparing Congress with Harishankar Parsai’s Story
Vinod Tawde did not stop there. He compared this sudden awakening of ‘cow-devotion’ within the Congress to the famous story “Bheden Aur Bhediye” (Sheep and Wolves) by renowned Hindi satirist Harishankar Parsai. Tawde wrote that seeing such conduct reminds one of the story where wolves get the misconception that by changing their colors and putting on a show like saints, they will actually start looking like saints.
Through this metaphor, the BJP has set a narrative that keeping the election season in mind, the Congress has shed its ‘skin of appeasement’ and donned the ‘robe of cow-devotion’. Just as the wolves in Parsai’s story become saints merely to usurp the votes of the sheep, the Congress is allegedly staging this drama to woo the majority voters.
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Why did Ajay Rai’s demand become ludicrous?
Political analysts believe that Ajay Rai’s gamble has completely ‘backfired’. There are three main reasons for this:
Lack of Ideological Authenticity: The stand of any political party is determined by its ideology. The national leadership or the manifesto of the Congress has never included the agenda of making ‘Gau Mata the Rashtra Mata’. In such a scenario, this statement by a provincial president appears to be nothing more than a ‘political stunt’.
The Kerala vs. Uttar Pradesh Contradiction: The BJP is also cornering the Congress on this issue by referencing Kerala, where a controversy erupted a few years ago when Congress workers publicly organized a beef party and slaughtered a calf. Beef politics in one state and the demand to make ‘Gau Mata the Rashtra Mata’ in another—this dual character makes the Congress look ridiculous before the public.
Surrender on BJP’s Pitch: This demand also makes it clear that the Congress is now forced to play on the religious agenda set by the BJP, moving away from issues like development or employment. But when it comes to history and credibility, the public will never trust this sudden surge of affection from the Congress.
The politics of Uttar Pradesh is now at a turning point where opposition parties want to defeat the BJP on its own issues of nationalism and religion. However, this counterattack by Vinod Tawde has proved that history cannot be escaped so easily.
The web that Ajay Rai had spun to trap Yogi Adityanath has been hit so hard by Vinod Tawde using historical truths and Parsai’s satire that the Congress itself has now become an object of ridicule.
The public clearly sees that this ‘cow-love’ has emerged not out of ideological reverence, but out of electoral compulsion.