NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s stay on directives of the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to display names of shop owners situated along the Kanwar Yatra route, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make the chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states aware of their “rajdharma”.
Congress Chairman of Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said, “We welcome the stay given by the honourable Supreme Court on the completely unconstitutional orders by the Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments wherein they have asked all the shopkeepers and eateries to put their name and their identity on the boards outside, especially during the Kanwar Yatra.”
“This was unconstitutional. The Congress party along with the entire Opposition opposed it. We are very happy that the Supreme Court has given such a strong order,” he said in a video.
Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister, Khera said, “We hope the Prime Minister makes his Chief Ministers aware of their ‘rajdharma’. Unfortunately this is the same Prime Minister when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked him to follow rajdharma, he defied Atal ji. I hope his Chief Ministers don’t defy him. He should stop his Chief Ministers from indulging in these unconstitutional measures.”
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also slammed the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over its order to display names of shop owners situated along the Kanwar Yatra route across the state and demanded its immediate roll back.
Asserting that the order is an attack on the Constitution of India, she called it “divisive”.
“Our Constitution guarantees every citizen that they will not be discriminated against on the basis of caste, religion, language or any other basis. The divisive order to put up boards with the names of their owners on carts, kiosks and shops in Uttar Pradesh is an attack on our Constitution, our democracy and our common heritage. This order should be immediately withdrawn and strict action should be taken against the officers who issued it,” she added.
Agencies

Agencies