Chamber of Trade and Industry says Nov 1 is the busiest day for festive stock movement, with Dhanteras on Nov 6
Delhi’s traders have asked the Congress to put off the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan, warning that it would choke the capital’s biggest markets in the middle of the festive shopping rush.
The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) wrote directly to Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, asking for the “Chalo Dilli Ramlila March” to be rescheduled. The body estimates the rally would bring about 10 lakh people and 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles into central Delhi, and says the lack of parking could cause gridlock “akin to a lockdown.”
The timing is the heart of the complaint. Dhanteras falls on November 6 and Diwali on November 8, and the CTI says November 1 is the busiest single day for festive stock movement and shopper footfall. CTI Chairman Brijesh Goyal said 20 historic markets in a 5 km radius, including Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar, Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and Khari Baoli, generate a daily turnover of Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore, and that this would come to a standstill.
The CTI raised four concerns. Ramlila Maidan, it says, cannot park even 200 large buses. The markets depend on about 5,000 trucks and tempos arriving daily from 56 industrial areas. Vehicles could begin gathering at Delhi’s borders from the afternoon of October 31, with barricades going up along Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and JLN Marg by evening, and the body says transporters are already refusing to dispatch vehicles from October 31. It also pointed to the October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar, where only 5,000 to 7,000 people gathered but central Delhi stayed gridlocked for eight hours.
Goyal said traders are not opposing the rally and that their plea is about protecting livelihoods. The CTI suggested rescheduling to after the festive season, preferably beyond November 10, or moving the event to Burari Maidan if November 1 cannot change.
The opposition INDIA bloc has called the rally to protest alleged vote tampering. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has described it as a march to save democracy and stop “vote theft,” saying it is not a march of any single party. With less than 48 hours to go, traders were still waiting for the Congress’s response.
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