Nearly 7 lakh traders shut their shops and took to the streets of the national capital on Thursday, seeking a resolution to the ongoing sealing drive in the city, being conducted by the bodies of the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
On Wednesday, most major markets of Delhi remained shut. Close to 20,000 transporters around the city, too, have joined the traders in the strike. On Wednesday, both traders and transporters thronged the protest ground of Ramlila Maidan in the city.
The protesters are likely to find support from anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, who was also camping at Ramlila Maidan, protesting against the Modi government's lack of interest in implementing the Lokpal bill and against the distress caused to the farming community owing to poor minimum support prices set by the Union government. Hazare ended his hunger strike on Thursday evening after meeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Hazare had been leading a hunger strike in Delhi since March 23 and had met trade unions in Delhi and advised them to carry out their protests in a peaceful and 'Gandhian' style.
On Thursday, traders were seen thronging major junctions of the city in small groups, carrying the Indian flag and conducting concerted protests interspersed with songs. In sensitive areas like the vicinity of the Supreme Court of India, clapping protesters were seen face-to-face with armed RAF troops.
The ongoing traders' strike in the national capital has the backing of several traders' bodies, including the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), Chamber of Trade Industries (CTI) and Vyapari and Workers Association. In addition, two transporters' associations have joined the traders' citywide protests.
In recent days, the traders have protested by even stopping their children from attending schools and colleges, demanding that an embargo on the sealing drive be brought in the Delhi Assembly.
A Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee had ordered the current sealing drive in Delhi against business and commercial establishments operating on residential properties. The drive was implemented by the three BJP-ruled municipal corporations.
Traders bodies allege that the monitoring committee has adopted stringent measures while sealing the shops and business establishments. Traders have also been denied the benefit of fundamental provisions of the MCD Act, 1957.
No show-cause notice nor any chance to place a defence was given to traders, union leaders said.
The traders had gone on a 48-hour strike earlier in February against the municipal corporations' move. While traders are bitter at the BJP administration, they are also angry that the AAP government in Delhi is doing nothing for them.
Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, had threatened to go on hunger strike if the Centre did not put a halt to the sealing drive by March 31. But traders unions are not happy. "Kejriwal must stop shedding crocodile tears," said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary, CAIT.
In question also is the Delhi Master Plan, amendments to which have been carried out 248 times in the past, in an effort to make the capital city clean and liveable. Meanwhile, the Union government also led by the BJP, has not relented to the pressure.
Hardeep Singh Puri, a former bureaucrat and minister of state for housing and urban affairs, under whom the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) falls, had said that 'hard decisions' need to be taken to make Delhi liveable. The minister had contended that in earlier regimes, flouting of norms was allowed and that is being corrected presently.
On the other hand, the city BJP unit is trying to calm the traders and has assured that the DDA will approve changes to the national capital's Master Plan at the earliest. Puri has also assured that a solution to the problem would be found before March 31.
Traders, meanwhile, have said that they will continue with their citywide protests and on March 31 assemble at Ramlila Maidan, seeking the attention of Prime Minister Modi for finding a workable solution to the current impasse.