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This is an archive article published on August 13, 2015
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken on day-long hunger strike, wants AAP govt to enforce street vendor law soonest
Maken warned that if a notification on implementing the Street Vendors Act in the capital was not issued within two weeks, the Congress would sit on a dharna and hold agitations outside Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken on Wednesday went on a day-long hunger strike, along with hundreds of street vendors, at Jantar Mantar to demand the implementation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014.
While attacking the ruling AAP government and the BJP-ruled municipalities, Maken said, “Five lakh street vendors haven’t been issued licenses despite the Street Vendors Act 2014 being passed in Parliament during the UPA government’s tenure. The Act was designed to protect the rights of the 2.5 crore street vendors in the country. But the AAP government in Delhi hasn’t taken any steps to implement the Act and the Congress agitation will continue until justice is meted out.”
Maken warned that if a notification on implementing the Street Vendors Act in the capital was not issued within two weeks, the Congress would sit on a dharna and hold agitations outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.
Maken also accused the Centre and AAP government of waging an endless battle of one-upmanship at the “cost of pressing issues of governance”.
The issue is a significant one for the Congress, as it may provide a nucleus for the party’s attempts to regain its lost position in the capital ahead of the 2017 municipal elections.
“The Act itself passed under the UPA government and Maken was closely associated with it. This gives him the perfect opportunity to utilise the issue as a building-block for his campaign in Delhi,” said a senior leader.
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