Lucknow: A political row erupted in Uttar Pradesh after chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked officials to use natural paint made of cow dung on the walls of government buildings across the state.
Yogi made the suggestion on Sunday during a review meeting of the Animal Husbandry department.
As per the minutes of the meeting, the chief minister directed officials to make the destitute cow protection centres self-reliant by making natural paint from cow dung and use it in government buildings.
“The Chief Minister was reviewing the work of the Animal Husbandry Department and the Dairy Development Department in a high-level meeting convened at his official residence. The Chief Minister directed to make concrete efforts to make the destitute cow protection centres self-reliant,” ANI quoted from a release.
“He said that natural paint made from cow dung should also be used in government buildings and the number of paint plants should be increased,” the release added.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav called out the BJP government for its ‘Gobarnama’ stunt.
Another SP leader IP Singh said BJP leaders’ minds are filled with ‘gobar’.
“They don’t talk about real issues… Look at what our neighbour China is doing and moving forward,” he remarked.
Others slammed the BJP, saying that it seems the chief minister can do whatever he wants just because people of Uttar Pradesh have given him a mandate for a second term.
Mocking Yogi, they said he should replace all tiles in the Chief Minister’s office with cow dung.
The BJP welcomed Yogi’s proposal.
“This will benefit farmers… They (SP) are anti-farmer,” said Shehazad Poonawalla.
State minister Ravindra Jaiswal said everything about sanatan dharma is related to the cow, even if it is cow dung. “We are talking of natural paint, which will be chemical-free. We will use the cow dung from the villages and will make natural colours from it.”