Inside Story

What’s the BJP’s agenda in Uttar Pradesh?

India’s ruling party is cracking down on butchers and abattoirs in the country’s most populous state.

Police in India’s Uttar Pradesh have been closing dozens of slaughterhouses, leading to a meat shortage in the state that is home to 200 million people.

Politicians say the crackdown is about licences, but government critics say it is about religion.

Muslims say they are being targeted.

Is it just about meat or an ominous indicator of rising Hindu nationalism?

Presenter: Martine Dennis

Guests:

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay – author of Narendra Modi: The Man, the Times

Rana Ayyub – journalist and author of The Gujarat File, about Prime Minister Modi and the BJP