Swamy s call against beef-eating his personal stand: Goa BJP

Panaji April 14 (IANS) Rejecting BJP leader Subramanian Swamy s call for a change in Goa s beef-eating tradition a state party spokesperson on Friday said the statement was Swamy s personal stand and not the party s position on the issue.

Asked to react to a Congress party demand asking Goa s BJP leaders to openly condemn Swamy s comments party spokesperson Dattaprasad Naik said: I don t think this is an issue at all in Goa. All communities live in harmony in Goa. It is probably his personal stand. It is not the party s stand.

Last week during a national TV debate on the ongoing beef ban controversy Swamy said that Goa had a beef-eating tradition which needed to be changed.

More than a third of the BJP-ruled state s population comprises minorities and eating beef is a common practice among the majority of the Christian and Muslim communities as well as among thousands of tourists who frequent the coastal state.

--IANS
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