Business

“Who Will Compensate?” Delhi Traders Claim Rs 10,000-11,000 Crore Hit From INDIA Bloc’s Ramlila Maidan Rally

The traders’ body had urged the Opposition to move the rally to after November 10 and says its pleas went unheard

November 2, 2026

About 2.5 lakh shops across 20 to 25 Delhi markets stayed shut days before Dhanteras

Delhi’s markets paid the price for the Opposition’s show of strength. The capital’s traders are now asking who will cover the bill.

The Chamber of Trade & Industry (CTI) said on Sunday that the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan cost Delhi’s trading sector an estimated Rs 10,000-11,000 crore. CTI Chairman Brijesh Goyal said 20 to 25 major markets near the venue were hit, with roughly 2.5 lakh of the area’s nearly three lakh shops staying shut. Based on data from traders’ WhatsApp groups across the markets, he put the closure rate at about 80 per cent.

The timing made it worse. The disruption came in peak Diwali season, with Dhanteras shopping only four days away. Goyal said loading and unloading of goods came to a standstill. Even shops that opened saw almost no customers, he said.

“The question now arises: who will compensate for this loss, or who will make up for it – will the organisers do so?” Goyal asked.

For traders, the damage was foreseeable. CTI had warned of exactly this days earlier, writing to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and asking that the rally be shifted to a date after November 10. It cited the cluster of major wholesale and retail hubs around Ramlila Maidan, including Old Delhi and New Delhi railway stations nearby, and the traffic diversions and barricading that a mass gathering brings. It had also claimed losses of around Rs 3,000 crore in October from earlier protests and road closures in central Delhi. Kharge indicated at one point that the date could be reconsidered, but the rally went ahead on November 1 as planned. CTI says it wrote four letters to Gandhi.

The day before the rally, Gandhi released a video message asking attendees to shop in nearby markets and promising that traders would face no loss. Goyal said that appeal could not undo the panic over traffic restrictions and crowds, which kept many shopkeepers from opening at all.

The INDIA bloc held the rally to protest alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, and to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

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