Rahul Gandhi Accuses BJP of Shutting Connaught Place Shops Ahead of Rally
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi claimed on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party forcibly shut down shops across Connaught Place, disrupting his appeal for rally attendees to support local businesses during an INDIA bloc march to Ramlila Maidan.
The march commenced from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and proceeded along the Connaught Place Outer Circle towards Ramlila Maidan. The demonstration was organised to protest alleged electoral fraud, demand the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, and seek the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Parts of the Connaught Place market were shut for several hours on Sunday morning ahead of the noon gathering, while parking areas filled with vehicles ferrying participants, leaving open shops with scarce footfall.
Speaking in a video recorded from an open-top safari vehicle en route to Ramlila Maidan, Gandhi addressed the market closures. He said that after asking attendees to purchase goods and shop in the area, he discovered upon arriving in Connaught Place that the BJP had forcibly closed the shops. Gandhi had posted a video appeal the previous night urging participants to combine their protest with local shopping, countering claims from the BJP and trade groups that the rally would harm commercial activity ahead of the festive season.
Local trader bodies expressed strong dissatisfaction with the impact of the demonstration. Atul Bhargava, president of the New Delhi Traders Association, stated that Connaught Place was once again bearing the brunt of political rallies, which he said created an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear among customers reluctant to visit. Bhargava urged that a court order be issued to prevent rallies, protests, and marches from originating, culminating, or passing through Connaught Place, noting the disruptions affect traders' right to a livelihood.
Prior to the event, the Chamber of Trade and Industry had unsuccessfully petitioned INDIA bloc leaders to postpone the gathering until after November 11. CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal noted that daily trade worth Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore was at stake across 20 major markets in central and Old Delhi, including Connaught Place and Chandni Chowk, particularly with November 1 being a critical inventory day ahead of Dhanteras and Diwali.
Addressing the crowd at Ramlila Maidan, Gandhi alleged that votes had been stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, describing the revision exercise as fraudulent. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also participated in the rally, which police had permitted under specific parking and routing conditions.
