Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that he had written to his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde over the dog meat remark made by MLA Bacchu Kadu in the Maharasthra assembly.

The Assam CM was addressing the House during the ongoing Assam assembly session when he said that he had written a letter to the Maharashtra CM over the issue. He said, “I have written to Maharashtra Chief Minister and asked him to pull up the statement made by MLA Bacchu Kadu and tell him to withdraw it.”

However, CM Sarma mentioned that police action cannot be taken against MLA Bacchu Kadu for his unfortunate and distasteful comment as it had been made inside the House. He said that if the statement was not recorded in the house action would have been taken against the said MLA over his derogatory remarks.

It may be noted that multiple FIRs were filed against Maharashtra MLA Bacchu Kadu in the aftermath of his statement that people in Assam consumed dog meat and it was a viable option to send street dogs from Maharashtra here so as to tackle their rising population. The remarks had come during a session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on March 4.

Following the statement made by Bacchu Kadu, the Trinamool Youth Congress in Assam’s Kokrajhar district filed an FIR against him at Sapkata Police Outpost on March 7. President Rahiton Narzary called the statement “totally derogative as well as provocative”.

Narzary said, “Assamese people never consume dog meat. These types of statements sent a wrong message to the world, whereby they defamed the Assamese people and its culture. Moreover, his statement also reflects that there is a high demand for stray dogs in Assam, which may bring cruel treatment to the stray dogs.”

Earlier, on the first day of the ongoing budget session of Assam Legislative Assembly, the opposition led by Congress MLAs Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha and Rokibul Hussain along with Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi disrupted proceedings by cutting short the address of newly appointed Governor Gulab Chand Kataria.

They took up the issue of Maharashtra MLA Bacchu Kadu referring to the people of Assam as consumers of dog meat and suggesting sending street dogs from Maharashtra here in a bid to tackle their problems.

Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha brought up the issue with the opposition demanding that the Assam Governor’s speech should have mentioned the issue.

Moreover, the Assam government should also have taken up the issue instead of letting it slide, the opposition demanded on the first day of the budget session.