New Delhi: Cracks surfaced in the NDA over the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ moves to aggressively push the Hindutva agenda by enforcing ID display for eateries, including roadside carts, in their respective states along the Kanwar Yatra route. Union minister and BJP ally Chirag Paswan said he is “against” the police advisory to eateries to display owners’ names. The JD(U) and the RLD also asked the government to withdraw the decision.Days after the Muzaffarnagar police asked all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday extended the controversial order across the state.Justifying the move, Meerut in-charge of the weights and measures department V.K. Mishra said that as per the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, every restaurant and dhaba “sanchalak” (person running the eatery unit) needs to display the name of the firm, the owner’s name and the licence number.After the UP government, the Haridwar police also passed a similar order. Senior superintendent of police (Haridwar) Pramod Singh said: “All hotel and dhaba owners are ordered to display their name, QR code and mobile numbers outside their outlets. Action will be taken against violators and their outlets will be removed.”The UP police’s order has triggered a massive political outrage, with leaders from both the Opposition and the ruling NDA saying the order will create a communal divide.Paswan, who joined the growing list of BJP allies who have objected to the police advisory, told a news agency he doesn’t support this or anything that creates “divide in the name of caste or religion”. The Union minister said he believes two classes of people — rich and poor — exist in society and people from all castes and religions fall into both categories. “We need to bridge the gap between these two classes of people. It is every government’s responsibility to work for the poor, which includes all sections of society such as dalits, backwards, upper castes and Muslims as well. All are there. We need to work for them,” he said.Mr Paswan said: “Whenever there is such a divide in the name of caste or religion, I absolutely do not either support it or encourage it. I do not think any educated young person of my age, irrespective of the caste or religion they come from, is affected by such things.”The Janata Dal (United), a key BJP ally, has already urged the UP government to review the order. JD(U) leader K.C. Tyagi said a Kanwar Yatra bigger than this (in UP) takes place in Bihar. “No such order is in effect there. These prohibitions that have been imposed are in violation of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas’ that the PM speaks of. The order is not in effect in Bihar, Rajasthan or Jharkhand. It will be good if it is reviewed. This order should be taken back,” Mr Tyagi told another news agency.The Congress also slammed the directive, which police have said is voluntary, as “an assault on India’s culture”. The Opposition party alleged that the directive intends to normalise the economic boycott of Muslims.In her post on X, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “Our Constitution guarantees every citizen that he will not be discriminated against on the basis of caste, religion, language or any other basis… The divisive order to put up name boards of the owners of carts, kiosks and shops in Uttar Pradesh is an attack on our Constitution, our democracy and our shared heritage,” she added.Ms Vadra said: “Creating division in society on the basis of caste and religion is a crime against the Constitution. This order should be withdrawn immediately and strict action should be taken against the officials who issued it.”The BJP, which is in power at the Centre and in UP and Uttarakhand, has defended the measure, claiming that it allows fasting Hindus who may want to eat at a pure vegetarian restaurant, where the likelihood of them being served “satvik” food is higher.Former Union minority affairs minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi claimed the Yogi Adityanath government has cleared the “confusion” and has now given a guideline for the sanctity of the pilgrimage.“This order is for the sanctity, reverence and safety of the Kanwar Yatra. There is no scope for creating any kind of communal confusion on this. The safety and harmony of society are the collective responsibility of all of us. Any kind of communal conflict is not in the interest of the country or any community.”
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