Gandhi had urged supporters to buy from Delhi’s shops alongside attending the protest, presenting the gathering as an opportunity to support local businesses during the festive season.
Ramesh argued that visitors arriving from across the country would create business opportunities, benefiting traders directly and indirectly. He accused the BJP of turning concerns about market access into a campaign to discourage participation and shift attention away from the opposition’s questions about the electoral process.
According to Ramesh, the underlying objective of the BKP was to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from demands for accountability. The INDIA bloc organised the rally to press for Kumar’s resignation over its charges of “vote theft” and objections to the revision of electoral rolls.
Accounts of the rally’s commercial impact remained contested. CTI representatives warned of extensive shop closures and disruption, while Ramesh pointed to trading activity and purchases by protesters. No independently verified, citywide assessment of the event’s effect on business was available in the reports cited.
Thanking Delhi’s traders, shopkeepers and residents, Ramesh said their response showed that supporting livelihoods and exercising democratic rights were compatible. He maintained that warnings about business losses would not prevent citizens from defending their vote or demanding answers from public institutions.
With agency inputs
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