Unlike the BJP supporters who praise its welfare schemes, many consider them inadequate. “Five kg grains aren’t enough to support my family of seven,” says Ashok Kumar. “I also need to buy vegetables, dal, salt.” Another farmer, refusing to be named, repeats the same reason. “The BJP government gives us five kg grains but causes harm worth 50 kilos,” says Kallu Sahu in Sulakhiyapur village. He points out a bigger problem: stray animals. “It’s good that they made Ram mandir. I’m a Hindu as well. But by releasing cattle, they’re killing us.” Kumar, too, sees no contradiction between his Hindu beliefs and economic concerns. “I understand that cows are as sacred as mothers. But stray cattle often get no water or food—canals and lakes have dried up—so if they’re dying on their own, then what can we do?” Their population has swelled so much that even cow sheds can’t keep—or protect—them. Right outside a gaushala in Bela Khara, several pits mark the barren land. So does the stifling rotten stench. It comes from a pit near the gate, where flies, insects, and maggots feast on decaying flesh: a dead cow whose left horn, still sturdy, silently screams hypocrisy and betrayal.