‘Avoid beef on menu to avoid trouble’

Former Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh on Wednesday asked Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games to keep beef out of its menu to steer clear of agitations and “outrage or anger over this sensitive issue”.

Singh’s move was seen as in tandem with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s campaign against cow slaughtering in the Capital, particularly in East Delhi.

“The Commonwealth Games have become an important event where we should use every possible opportunity to highlight our cultural values and age-old traditions,” Singh said in letters to Organising Committee’s chairman Suresh Kalmadi and Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna.

“By removing beef from the menu card would not only empathise with the popular sentiment but also save the Games from agitations and other possible controversies.”

Singh drew attention to a “unanimous resolution” by the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi urging it to keep beef out of the Games to be held in October.

“We in the BJP believe that the guests should be given the best of facilities.”