Rahul Gandhi to attend Jallikattu in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, 10 yrs after Congress banned it

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be a spectator at a bull-taming event in Madurai Thursday in what will be his first visit to the poll-bound state this year.

People take part in the annual bull taming sport Jallikattu in Madurai in January 2020 | ANI

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Tamil Nadu Thursday to be a spectator at a Jallikattu event, in what will be his first visit to the state in 2021 ahead of the assembly polls slated for later this year.

Congress Tamil Nadu president K.S. Alagiri said Rahul will be watching the popular-yet-controversial bull-taming event in Madurai as a way of showing solidarity with the farmers protesting against the Narendra Modi government’s farm laws.

“The bull is a symbol of farmers and part of their lives,” Alagiri said Tuesday.

The former party chief’s one-day visit is being called ‘Rahulin Tamizh Vanakkam (Rahul’s Tamil welcome)’ by the state unit. Alagiri said it was “a way to show his closeness with the people of Tamil Nadu”, adding that the leader wouldn’t be indulging in any political campaigning.

What makes Gandhi’s visit even more incidental is the stand Congress has had on the Jallikattu sport. The party has done a series of flip-flops on the issue that has seen animal activists call for its ban. In the last few years, the party has been coming out in support of the event after opposing it for a long time. The party had even banned it in 2011 when it was in power at the Centre.

When Jairam Ramesh banned Jallikattu

When senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was environment minister during UPA 2, the ministry issued a notification banning the use of bulls as performing animals, effectively putting a stop on the Jallikattu festival in 2011.

Then, on 7 May 2014, weeks before the BJP came to power, the Supreme Court upheld the ban. The top court’s verdict was welcomed by Ramesh, who said the move will “put an end to a barbaric practice”.

However, after the Modi government came to power, the Congress drastically changed its position on the bull taming event.

In January 2016, just weeks ahead of the previous Tamil Nadu assembly election, the Modi government issued a gazette notification, removing bulls from the list of animals banned from public display and performance.

The top court, though, stayed the government’s order.

Subsequently, the Congress, in its 2016 Tamil Nadu election manifesto, said it would work towards the revival of Jallikattu in the state, and also legalise it.

State politics influences party position

In January 2017, the AIADMK government passed an ordinance permitting Jallikattu in the state.

Subsequently, Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the ordinance on behalf of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Compassion Unlimited Plus Action and other animal rights activists.

However, the party got Singhvi to back down from a petition after state leaders called on the party high command.

“Despite my long association with animal rights cases and my appearance pro bono in all these matters, in deference to the sentiments of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress and the Congress party, which I deeply value and respect, I have decided to step aside and will not be appearing on Monday,” Singhvi had told The New Indian Express at the time.

Later that year, when the pro-Jallikattu protests hit a peak, the Congress’s central leadership publicly supported the practice.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, chief party spokesperson, said the party “respects the rich tradition of Jallikattu”.

Congress respects rights of ppl of Tamil Nadu to preserve the culture and protect rich tradition of #jallikattu :RS Surjewala,Congress pic.twitter.com/jwWot3L2fR

— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2017

Always supported Jallikattu, says Congress

A. Gopanna, the Tamil Nadu Congress spokesperson, defended the party’s position, saying it has always supported Jallikattu in the state.

“The 2011 Jairam Ramesh notification banning use of bulls never affected Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. The law passed by Karunanidhi in 2009 meant we could continue celebrating the festival in the state,” Gopanna told ThePrint.

In 2009, DMK leader and then chief minister M. Karunanidhi had passed the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, which stated certain rules for the regulation and conduct of the sport.

“We supported Jallikattu then, and we continue to support it now,” Gopanna said.