NEW DELHI: Amid opposition from traders, the BJP on Wednesday held a march through historic Chandni Chowk against what it described as anarchy by the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties.
The BJP held its “Save Democracy – Remove Anarchy” march after assuring traders that the protest would last just over an hour and would not disrupt business.
The traders' body said BJP leaders had assured them that only 400 people would participate in the march and that it would last one and a half hours.
It also distinguished the BJP's march from the “much larger” rally planned by the Congress-led Opposition on November 1, which it fears could disrupt business across 20 markets around Ramlila Maidan.
The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), which had requested Rahul Gandhi to postpone the opposition bloc's Sunday rally at Ramlila Maidan, had also appealed to the BJP not to hold its march in Chandni Chowk during the peak Diwali shopping season.
The BJP claimed that representatives of the Mercantile Association, Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, Chandni Chowk Traders Council, Katra Asharfi Vyaparik Parishad, Dariba Vyapari Manch and Chandni Chowk Nagrik Manch welcomed the march by setting up reception stages at various locations.
After the march, the BJP claimed that business activities in Chandni Chowk had continued normally throughout the event.
The march began at Red Fort Chowk and concluded at Town Hall Chowk. BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra also participated.
The BJP said the objective of the march was to expose what it described as the violent face of protests allegedly organised by opposition parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, with foreign funding.
“Democracy is in safe hands, and the people’s faith in democracy rests with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The Congress has always attempted to turn the wishes of one family into the law of the nation. Just as traders maintain their account books, the electoral roll is the account book of democracy. Whenever efforts are made to ensure that electoral rolls are accurate and transparent, Congress leaders become restless,” Nabin said.
Speaking at the event, Malhotra said, “Today, we have taken a pledge to save democracy from the very soil of Chandni Chowk, which has played a leading role in India's freedom struggle, from the Revolt of 1857 to the Quit India Movement. Town Hall Chowk is not just an ordinary intersection. It is the sacred land where revolutionaries raised the banner of revolt against the British in 1857. Meetings associated with the Swadeshi Movement, the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Quit India Movement were held here. The voices of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai and Mahatma Gandhi resonated from this very place. The British hanged hundreds of patriots at this intersection. Chandni Chowk therefore symbolises Delhi's sacrifices and democratic consciousness.”
The BJP said it had chosen historic Chandni Chowk for its first symbolic march because the stretch from the Red Fort to Fatehpuri, including the Red Fort and Town Hall Chowk, represented India's democratic heritage as well as Delhi's rich culture and civilisation.
“Today, we are witnessing some very strange political spectacles in the country. The Congress party repeatedly tries to promote and present before the public a political heir who is an ultimate failure. Sometimes a march is organised, sometimes a new slogan is introduced, and sometimes a new campaign is launched. Yet every time, the rocket fizzles out before it can even take off. Now, once again, a new slogan has been raised: ‘Vote Chori, Vote Chori’ (vote theft),” the Chief Minister said.