BENGALURU: Amid protest, Freedom Park has turned into a mini-market with over 500 small traders selling their goods for the past three days. From vendors selling ice-creams, cucumbers, churumuri and groundnuts to phone accessories, clothes and purses being sold on roadside; the protest venue wears the look of a fair.
Express spoke to a few small scale traders who said that their livelihood majorly depends on political rallies and protests. The protest by mid-day meal workersdid not fetch them good money, they said. Many vendors at Freedom Park said their families are dependent on the earnings which they make during protests.
Amanullah has put up a small shop on road median, and sells pants and shirts for children. For four pants, one has to pay just `100. One can also buy three shirts for only `100. “I earn `2,000-`3,000 daily,” he said.
The day, however, did not go well for Shivu who sells water. “I thought many people would buy bottled waters, but JD(S) workers supplied water. That spoiled my business,” he said.
Doreswamy, an ice-cream vendor, said if it was a political rally he would have made good business. “Mid-day meal workers don’t buy ice-creams. I had made huge profits during the recent Narendra Modi’s rally.”