Amid a row over Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh's remarks on the mandatory display of names by street vendors, the Congress brass on Friday chided and told him that no one was allowed to go against the party's policies and ideologies, sources said.
Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, KC Venugopal had a meeting with Singh here during which the minister was told that the party believed in Rahul Gandhi's mantra of fighting hatred with love, they said.
While Singh was told that he must adhere to the party's ideology and policies, he in turn informed the party brass that he was misquoted by the media.
Facing flak over Singh's announcement on the mandatory display of names by street vendors, the Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday said no such decision had been taken.
Singh, the public works and urban development minister, on Wednesday, told reporters that it would be mandatory for street vendors, especially those selling food items, to display their identity cards at their shops.
The decision, he had said, was inspired by a similar directive announced by the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government.
Distancing itself from Singh's remarks, the state government said in a statement that it had not taken any decision that made it mandatory for street vendors to display nameplates or other identification at their stalls.
Singh had said the decision was taken considering "apprehensions" expressed by several locals about the rising numbers of migrants in the state.
He also drew the censure of several leaders of the INDIA bloc when he posted his remarks on Facebook.
Sources in Delhi said the Congress' central leadership intervened in the matter following which the state government's clarification came.
The AICC's Himachal Pradesh in-charge Rajiv Shukla said on Thursday that he had discussed the issue with Singh and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
He had said the matter sprang from the assembly speaker forming a committee to designate specific areas for street vendors, including those selling food and other items.
"They will be given licences and regulated so that police do not harass them. The designated places will require identification such as Aadhaar cards and licences but there is no requirement for them to display a sign stating their name as the owner," Shukla told reporters in Jammu on Thursday.
"The aim is to ensure that street vendors have proper locations to operate without disrupting traffic, especially since it is a hilly area and has narrow roads...," he had said.
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