 "The expectations of the traders remain almost the same across New Delhi’s Connaught Place (pictured) and Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk")
The mercury has crossed 45 degrees Celsius and yet the Jama Masjid area in Old Delhi is buzzing with activity. Across the road from the most well-known mosque in the country built with red sandstone and white marble almost 400 years ago is a non-descript tea shop. Raees, the owner, says he’s yet to make up his mind on who to cast his vote for and gets busy stirring the pot on fire.
The weekend crowd is building up in the blazing afternoon as rickshaws, two-wheelers, and walkers jostle for space in the narrow and famous galis, such as Kinari Bazaar, Dariba Kalan, and Nai Sarak. Two big rallies — one by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and another by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — are being held in different parts of Delhi on the same day (Saturday), but Raees couldn’t care less. “No leader comes to us,’’ he says when asked about the number of campaigns and rallies here.
Closeby, Mohd Irfaan is manning a small kirana store while munching a bhutta (corn). He laments the low footfall at the shop called Ashfaq Rizwan Paan, saying there’s no kaarobaar (business).
Will it help that a candidate from the trading community has been floated from Chandni Chowk, a trader-dominated constituency with a large Muslim population? Irfaan has heard of Praveen Khandelwal, a trade association (Confederation of All India Traders, or CAIT) general secretary and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Chandni Chowk constituency, but that’s about it. Does he have a view on the Hindu-Muslim narrative that crops up during elections? Those are political issues and don’t affect common people, he replies.
The next stop is Karim’s, the landmark restaurant near Jama Masjid. Zainul Abideen, director of the hotel and restaurant chain founded in 1913, agrees with the general narrative of business being down. “The crowd is less. Tourists aren’t there. And the heat has made things worse,’’ Zain Sahab, as he’s often called, points out. The weekend rush should not be seen as a footfall yardstick, he cautions. On weekdays, the numbers are down drastically.
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While global geopolitical situations have impacted the flow of tourists into India, rising prices are stopping locals from eating out, according to him. The restaurant has not returned to the pre-Covid numbers yet. Karim’s is a secular place, where 80 to 90 per cent of the guests are non-Muslims, Zain Sahab stresses when the conversation turns to Hindu versus Muslim.
The scene of action shifts to the road to Red Fort after a bumpy rickshaw ride. The road connects several places of worship — Jain Mandir, Gurudwara Sis Ganj, Central Baptist Church, and Fatehpuri Masjid — making it truly secular. However, traders lining this road are cautious and reserved, fearing that they may tread a political line that could harm their business. “We will salute whoever is in power,’’ seems to be a common thread even as they talk about their disappointments and grievances with the current government.
Tanuj Gambhir of Kulcha King at Chowk Fatehpuri speaks his mind, though. A Modi supporter, he cites India’s high rating globally as the biggest achievement of the current government. What about the problem of unemployment? “Joblessness was there earlier too. Modiji is not a magician, give him at least 15 years,’’ Gambhir responds.
A few shops away, Mohd Danish, who sells shawls and other woolens, lists out relaxation in taxes and better transportation as his big asks. His verdict is that of seven seats, BJP should win at least five. In the previous Lok Sabha election, the BJP had won all seven in Delhi. Pawan Agarwal, a jeweller close to Town Hall, is confident that it’s going to be a BJP sweep, arguing that job creation is not the job of the government. From Chandni Chowk, known for its bazaars, street food, Islamic architecture, and now heritage walks, it’s time for another rickshaw ride, and a jam, through Nai Sarak — a wholesalers paradise — to head back to the city on Metro.
It’s evening in Connaught Place and the high street has a different kind of buzz with cars replacing cycle rickshaws and glitzy restaurants and bars, instead of the makeshift eateries, getting ready for the weekend rush. The expectations of the traders remain almost the same across New Delhi and Old Delhi. Ajay Sood of Modern Stores, Janpath, wants taxes to come down. He’s a voter in West Delhi and believes that BJP has an upper hand as there’s hardly any Opposition leader. Joblessness and inflation are issues that have been around for 70 years, he says. The owner of a music to cosmetics shop in the vicinity is disappointed with this government and doesn’t want to elaborate. Another trader, whose business is elsewhere and is in Connaught Place on an outing, advises this reporter to speak to the poor to understand how badly they are doing.
An ice cream vendor, Inderjeet, across a row of marquee stores and restaurants points at the lack of cash in the customer’s hand as the main problem. The owner of a large shop that sells anything from fruits to chocolates expresses similar sentiments as Inderjeet. “Marked decrease in cash transactions has impacted our business adversely. Where is the buying power?” he asks.
There’s some talk of the need for change, but many shop owners unite wholeheartedly when it comes to the BJP’s Ayodhya Mandir initiative. “Nothing can be bigger than that,’’ one of them says.
On his part, Khandelwal has backed local traders for the past 10 years while attacking foreign-owned e-commerce players, such as Amazon and Walmart (which owns Flipkart). Local traders and MSMEs have been the flavour of this government. Even before becoming the PM, Modi had addressed CAIT at its national convention in February 2014. At that Siri Fort event, Modi had urged small traders to accept technology to boost productivity and sales. Will Khandelwal, who’s fighting the Congress’ Jai Prakash Agarwal from the Chandni Chowk constituency, remain focused on traders’ issues as he enters national politics? At least his fellow traders would hope so.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party’s Somnath Bharti, who’s contesting for the New Delhi seat against BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of former minister late Sushma Swaraj, is promising a single-window system of doing business to small traders.
Even as the manifestos cutting across party lines have made promises galore, traders, mainly at mithai shops in Chandni Chowk, are already looking at June 4 — the result day for the Lok Sabha elections. “Jashan hoga aur mithai lene yeheen aayenge (it will be party time as people come here to buy sweets),” a worker enthuses without naming the likely winning party.
