By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
(Filed: 19/05/2003)
(from www.telegraph.co.uk, the web site of the Daily Telegraph)
India's hardline Hindu ruling party is seeking to bolster support ahead of a series of state elections by campaigning to protect the cow from commercial exploitation, saying it defiles the sacred animal.
Although India is largely respectful of the cow, there is a thriving underground cattle trade. Now the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has tabled a bill to ban the slaughter of cows in all states.
…During earlier state elections this year, the ostensibly secular Congress party led by the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi released posters accusing prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of being a "closet" eater of beefburgers.
It is not known how long Karl Rove has been working for Ms. Ghandi, although experts note that she has been photographed in a more flattering light and from more telegenic angles of late, a trademark of the media-savvy Bush White House team. They also point out that Ms. Ghandi was the first Indian Prime Minister to land a cow on the deck of an aircraft carrier, although Pandit Nehru did once ride a water buffalo on board a frigate. Questions about the cost of the bovine stuint have been brushed aside with the statement that it was a "routine training mission."
Ms. Ghandi before the Rove makeover: And After:
