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Updated November 20th, 2021 at 23:07 IST

'People allowed to sell anything legal': Gujarat BJP chief clarifies non-veg stalls row

Gujarat BJP Chief CR Paatil on Saturday reasserted his stand on vendors selling non-veg food in Gujarat by confirming that no action will be taken against them

Reported by: Aakansha Tandon
Gujarat
Twitter/ @CRPaati | Image:self
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Gujarat BJP Chief CR Paatil on Saturday reasserted his stand on vendors selling non-vegetarian food on roadsides in Gujarat by confirming that no action will be taken against them. While addressing a gathering of Industrialists in Rajkot, Paatil reiterated that he had directed all the Mayors not to take any coercive action against roadside cart owners selling non-veg food under the pretext of saving the feelings of the vegetarians.

Gujarat BJP chief on non-veg stalls row

Speaking further on the issue, he added that everyone in this country has the freedom to eat whatever they like to, and that it is not a fair move to remove non-vegetarian carts as a result.  

He explained against the Rajkot's Municipal Corporation's decision, that there is no such provision in the law to prohibit people from selling/ eating non-veg food. "People are allowed to sell whatever they want as long as it isn't illegal. So there's no need in removing carts from the roads, Paatil asserted.

The remark of the BJP leader is noteworthy since BJP-controlled local bodies in Gujarat earlier issued orders to remove all non-vegetarian food carts and vendors from major streets. On being asked that the Rajkot Mayor and Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation had ordered the removal of non-vegetarian food carts from the roadsides due to religious sensibilities, the BJP president stated they had been advised to reverse the decision.

Rajkot Municipal Corporation’s decision against non-veg food carts

Earlier this month, the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) initiated a campaign to remove non-vegetarian food carts, claiming that they were encroaching on city roads and that the public exhibition of such food products was hurting vegetarians' religious emotions.

Other civic authorities across the state joined the bandwagon and took similar actions. Paatil and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, on the other hand, stated last week that individuals were free to consume anything they wanted. 

“No one has taken such a decision. There is one minister who had said that there is encroachment because of such (carts and roadside stalls) or people standing on the footpath, should be removed. But, he (the minister) as well as all the (city) mayors have been told that there is no plan to stop such (carts and stalls). The Chief Minister has also made this clear in his speech yesterday in Anand," Paatil clarified earlier.

Image: Twitter

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Published November 20th, 2021 at 23:07 IST

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