Amidst a walkout by the Congress, Left Front and the Indian Muslim League, a private member's resolution, moved by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, seeking a ban on cow slaughter was adopted by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Opposition members vehemently objected to the resolution, moved by Prahlad Singh Patel on July 26, 2002, on the ground that Parliament was not competent to vote on a state subject.
But Speaker Manohar Joshi put the resolution to vote by saying, "The question of legislative competence only arises in case of bills."
The speaker said resolutions for prohibiting cow slaughter had earlier been put to vote in the House and once members had adopted it.