Jayant Chaudhary, key BJP ally, on UP govt's Kanwar Yatra order: 'Taken without much thought'

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and Bharatiya Janata Paraty (BJP) ally Jayant Chaudhary on Sunday demanded the Uttar Pradesh government roll back its order that eateries along the Kanwar route must display the names of their owners. He said the pilgrimage does not belong to any one religion or caste.

"It seems that the order was taken without much thought and the government is adamant on it because the decision has been taken," he told reporters in Muzaffarnagar.

"There is still time. It (roll back) should happen or the government should not put much emphasis on (implementing) it," he said.

No one identifies the Kanwar, neither the people who serve the Kanwar are identified on religion or caste, he added.

"This matter should not be linked to religion and caste either. Everyone is writing names on their shops. What will McDonald and Burger King write?'

"Muslims are also vegetarians and Hindus are non-vegetarians too. Now where should we write the name? Should we start writing the name on the kurta too? Should we meet after seeing whether to shake hands or hug?" he questioned.

Muslim votes in by-poll behind Chaudhary's demand?

Sources said Chaudhary's party RLD wants to field a Muslim candidate in the by-election of the Meerapur seat of Muzaffarnagar. Meerapur is a Muslim-dominated seat and RLD's Chandan Chauhan won from here in 2022. Now this seat has become vacant after Chandan became an MP from Bijnor. After which RLD is mulling to make Nawazish Alam, son of former MP Amir Alam, a candidate from the Meerapur Assembly seat.

With Jayant going with BJP, the Muslim vote has gone away from RLD, they added. Chaudhary's statement against the Yogi government on the Kanwar Yatra diktat is being seen as part of this strategy to retain the Meerapur seat.