New Delhi, May 29: BJP president Amit Shah was last night quoted as saying that sale and consumption of beef was banned in whichever state his party was in power,news agency PTI's "corrected re-run" capping an apparently vexing day for Narendra Modi's right-hand man.

"Wherever there is a BJP government, there is ban on beef," Shah was quoted as saying in a late last night despatch by the agency.

Earlier in the day, however, the agency had quoted Shah as saying there would be no countrywide ban on consumption of beef; it was up to the states to take a decision that would have to keep in mind the "sentiments of the people".

Read collectively and parsed, his reported statements signified a shift from the Sangh parivar'sideological position, which dictates that there should be a national law to ban killing of cows and other bovines.

To the RSS, Shah's ideological parent, "protecting" the cow is as sacred a call as building a Ram temple in Ayodhya, abrogating Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bringing in a common civil code.

Any dilution or a recant, especially when articulated publicly, can invite disapproval and even censure. The BJP president, the Prime Minister's closest aide, reportedly spoke to journalists at Panaji yesterday after addressing a rally to mark the first year of the Modi government.

PTI had quoted Shah as saying: "Wherever there is a BJP government, we will consider the sentiments of the people before imposing a ban on sale and consumption of beef. We have not said that we will be banning beef across the country."

If Shah appeared a bit "beef-uddled" on the issue - to ban or not to ban - sources blamed the media for the "misquotes". It is learnt that Shah was "agitated" when the news agency ran the initial takes on his alleged remarks that were picked up by news portals.

He and others in the BJP wondered why no news channel showed him making the same statements as "sound bites", especially when TV reporters were said to be present in full strength outside Panaji's Mandovi Hotel where he met the media last morning. "Something was amiss. That's when PTI was contacted," a source said.

Goa's neighbour, Maharashtra, proscribed the sale and consumption of beef soon after the BJP came to power in the state late last year.