New Delhi: Days after a traders’ body urged him to postpone INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally against “vote chori”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked the traders to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “sack accused no. 4”, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and said the protests will then stop in 30 seconds.
“To every trader in Delhi: We love you and hear you. The Government shut the metro, sealed our roads and locked down our capital,” Gandhi said on X.
“With a stolen vote nothing is safe – your shop, your savings, your children’s future,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
“Tell Modi to sack accused no. 4, Gyanesh Kumar and the protests will stop in 30 seconds,” he added.
The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) has urged Gandhi to postpone the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan until after November 10, warning that it could disrupt business worth Rs 10,000 crore during the peak Diwali shopping season.
In a letter to Gandhi, CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal said the rally could affect wholesale and retail markets around Ramlila Maidan at a time when traders expect heavy customer footfall ahead of Dhanteras and Diwali.
Goyal said Delhi records business worth around Rs 25,000 crore across sectors such as gold and silver, electronics, clothing, utensils, dry fruits, sweets, automobiles, property and gift items around Dhanteras, which falls on November 6 this year. Diwali will be celebrated on November 8, followed by Bhai Dooj on November 10.
The traders’ body said markets generally see increased activity about a week before the festivals, making the timing of the rally a matter of concern for traders.
The traders’ body requested the leader of the Congress party, a core constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, to consider holding the rally after November 10, saying the postponement would help protect business activity during one of the busiest periods of the year.
The opposition rally is aimed at ramping up pressure on the government over the “vote chori” issue and for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation over the alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On October 12, protests over the “vote theft” charge reached the Supreme Court’s doorstep, with opposition leaders, activists and civil society members participating in a ‘March for Democracy’ along a heavily barricaded route in Delhi and filing a joint petition against the SIR.
Gandhi hosted INDIA bloc leaders for tea at his home on October 13. After the meeting, the opposition bloc vowed to continue resisting and to take the “vote chori” fight to its logical conclusion.
