New Delhi: Months after he directed Muslim vendors to display their names on their stalls, BJP MLA from Delhi’s Patparganj Ravinder Singh Negi is now directing meat shops to stay closed on Tuesdays or face action.
A video the MLA shared through his X account last week shows him stopping at meat shops, ordering them to cover their produce and stay shut on Tuesdays. His post said this was done because it was hurting the sentiments of devotees visiting a nearby temple.
Posting the video on 5 March, Negi wrote, “On Tuesday, chicken shops in the Patparganj assembly constituency were directed to close down as they were hurting the sentiments of devotees visiting the temple. In Sanatan culture, purity and sanctity around religious places have special importance. Operating such shops around such holy places is against faith and tradition.”
पटपड़गंज विधानसभा में मंगलवार को खुली चिकन शॉप को बंद कराने का निर्देश दिया, क्योंकि यह मंदिर में आने-जाने वाले श्रद्धालुओं की भावनाओं को आहत कर रही थी।
सनातन संस्कृति में धार्मिक स्थलों के आसपास शुद्धता और पवित्रता का विशेष महत्व होता है। ऐसे पावन स्थानों के आसपास ऐसी दुकानों… pic.twitter.com/YFbG1pMYqR
— Ravinder Singh Negi (@ravinegi4bjp) March 5, 2025
Negi had also visited butcher shops before the Hindu festival season last year, and asked them to stay shut to show respect for Hindu sentiments. He was a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) councillor from Vinod Nagar in Patparganj at the time.
Negi had grabbed limelight, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen touching his feet at a rally in Ghonda constituency ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.
Months before the polls, a video clip of him was widely circulated, where he was seen asking a shop owner to change the name of his dairy to show it was run by a Muslim. In other instances, he was seen telling Hindu street vendors to put saffron flags on their carts.
The BJP had fielded him from the Patparganj seat against Aam Aadmi Party’s educationist-turned-politician Avadh Ojha.
The seat had previously been won thrice by AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia since 2013.
The MCD grants licences for meat shops in Delhi. Earlier this year, MCD had decided to reduce the minimum distance condition permissible between a meat shop and a religious place, including temple, gurdwara, mosque, etc. from 150 metres to to 100 metres.
Reacting to Negi’s move, senior Congress leader Udit Raj said, “I condemn this move because this is curtailing people’s freedom, and in this case, the shopkeepers’. Our Constitution is secular and it will not function as per any particular religion.”
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has, however, voiced its support for Negi. “It is but natural that effort should be made not to hurt religious sentiments, and in this case, Hindus going to the mandir. If they have to pass by such shops, it is not right. Also, meat shops should not be within a specific limit of a religious place. Many meat shops violate this issue and the MCD should take action,” said Vinod Bansal, VHP national spokesperson.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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