Shimla: Even as the Congress high command reprimanded Himachal Pradesh’s Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh over his ‘order’ to street vendors to display their ID cards, the latter has found support among party leaders in the state.
Some said they supported the move as it was for people’s safety, given recent incidents like protests against unregistered migrant workers and the Sanjauli mosque row in Shimla. Others asked why the party high command “was deciding the state’s affairs”.
This has put the Congress on a sticky wicket while it’s already facing flak for Vikramaditya’s remarks — from both within and outside the party — amid comparisons drawn to similar orders issued by the UP government during the Kanwar Yatra that sparked a controversy.
Soon after Vikramaditya — who is the son of former Himachal chief minister late Virbhadra Singh — said he’d issued such orders, the state’s Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government had clarified that no such decision had been made.
On Friday, Vikramaditya Singh met Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal in New Delhi amid an escalating row over his instructions to street vendors.
Venugopal told the media that the Himachal minister has been instructed to follow the party line. “I strongly conveyed the sentiments of the Congress party. No minister or party functionary can go against party policies and ideology. Rahul Gandhi is doing the politics of love and affection against hatred. Mallikarjun Kharge ji is also talking about love and affection among the people. We cannot create hatred,” he said after the meeting.
“Vikramaditya Singh told me that he was misquoted by the media,” the party general secretary added.
Meanwhile, Vikramaditya told ThePrint: “This matter was blown out of proportion in the media. I have apprised the high command that I have always been a loyal and dedicated soldier of the party. But I have also conveyed that in Himachal, for the past one and a half months, there have been issues like the Sanjauli mosque row and various protests occurring in different corners of the state.”
He added: “We need to follow the law as per the directives of the high court, and it’s about implementing the Supreme Court’s directives. It is essential to identify and verify all individuals coming from outside the state according to the rules.”
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‘Vikramaditya’s order should not be seen in a political colour’
Some Congress workers and leaders are in favour of Vikramaditya’s actions.
Himachal Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil told the press in Solan Friday: “I am in favour of this. We have to ensure the security and safety of people.”
Meanwhile, a senior state Congress leader told ThePrint: “Vikramaditya’s order should not be seen in a political colour. It should not be branded as an activity against the party ideology. If Rahul Gandhi is spreading the message of love, Vikramaditya’s decision was to ensure safety and to regulate street vendors.”
A Himachal legislator who is part of a joint panel constituted to finalise a street vendors’ policy for the state said “reprimanding a minister for a decision in public interest is not a good idea”.
“What if the joint panel recommends the same, will the government reject our recommendations? If the Congress high command has to decide the state’s affairs, what is the need of the government here,” the legislator told ThePrint, not wanting to be named.
A former party MLA said there is apprehension that this order could be misused to discriminate against street vendors on the basis of religion. However, he added: “A knife can cause a fatal injury, but it does not mean you stop manufacturing it. You have laws to regulate it.”
Vikramaditya’s mother and Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh said his remarks were in the interest of the people of the state. “It’s nothing new. Whenever we come to Delhi, we meet the high command to update them on the government’s activities and also take their direction on how to proceed further. There was also a discussion on identifying people coming from outside and the purpose of their visit in Himachal Pradesh. We will follow the directions given,” she told media persons in Delhi Saturday.
Speaking to ThePrint, she said: “But the decision taken by the concerned minister was taken to ensure the availability of healthy food and regulate street vendors.”
Asked whether the Congress high command was upset with Vikramaditya, Singh said: “Why? Our government is working for the people of the state. Why would anyone be upset?”
None of the Congress’s Himachal leaders had opposed Vikramaditya’s ‘order’. However, the state government denied any such decision soon after party leaders from other states started opposing the move.
Why Congress is worried
Himachal has seen a bunch of protests in the last few weeks. Last Saturday, traders in Shillai took part in a half-day bandh protesting the “illegal construction of mosques” and influx of outsiders. Similar protests also took place in Mandi mid-September, where police used water cannons to bring the situation under control.
In the first week of September, the otherwise quiet hill town of Shimla was on the boil as a row broke out over a mosque amid allegations that the structure was illegal. Significantly, both Congress and BJP leaders were on the same page on the matter.
Educationist Prof. Amar Singh Chauhan said the timing of this controversy is crucial. “Regulating street vendors or any other business is important but simultaneously, the government has to see whether such orders are used to harass anyone, especially with a communal angle. As far as displaying names is concerned, there should not be any dispute over it since we do it for other shops, commercial vehicles,” he told ThePrint.
A state Congress leader meanwhile said: “Vikramaditya Singh’s order to display the nameplates or identity cards has a tinge of Uttar Pradesh order. That is why there is opposition from some Congress leaders of other states and leaders of other parties.”
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‘IDs will help us’
However, Shimla street vendors ThePrint spoke to said they were okay with Vikramaditya’s move. Altaf, a fruit seller in Shimla’s Lower Bazar, said, “I have been selling fruits for the last 12 years and everyone knows my identity as Muslim. I have not faced any kind of discrimination. What is the harm in displaying identity cards in shops?”
Another street vendor, Mohammad Irshaad, said that issuing certificates, getting space in vending zones is beneficial for them. “If we have the ID card, it will strengthen the people’s trust in us.”
There are less than a lakh registered street vendors across the state, according to government data. Under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, the government has to regulate them by providing vending zones, issuing identity cards and certificates.
A senior government official said identity cards are a must to ensure that only those verified by the street vending panel are carrying out business. “Customers will also get to know from whom they are purchasing items. But now the government has stalled it.”
BJP supports, with ‘apprehension’
Former CM and BJP leader Jairam Thakur said this is the need of the hour. “Earlier the BJP had initiated such a process, but several questions were raised. Now the Congress minister has decided to ensure name, identity cards are displayed prominently by street vends. This is a welcoming step. But the Congress high command will not accept this. I hope the minister will not change this decision due to the pressure from the high command.”
This is not the first time Vikramaditya Singh has appeared at odds with the party line. Earlier this year, he had attended the Ram temple consecration ceremony at Ayodhya.
In February, he had announced his resignation alleging humiliation. Later he was pacified by the party leadership.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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