What bandh? It was biz as usual

Mumbai: Even as the opposition parties called a nationwide bandh (strike) on Monday, urging workers across the country to strike with them, several shops and small-time street vendors across Mumbai continued to do business all day.  Shops in major markets such as Dadar, Colaba, Bandra and Fort's Fashion street remained open, and claimed to have made good business during the day. Workers and shops owners said they were unaware of the strike, or did not want to participate, as their businesses would take a hit.

All opposition parties, including the Congress party, had called for a nationwide strike on Monday, to protest against the demonetisation announcement of the Union government. The parties claimed that small-time businesses, the lower middle class and the middle class were the worst hit due to the demonetisation move undertaken by the government.

Following this, the Congress party, one of the main opposition parties which had called for the strike took a complete U-turn, claiming it had not called for a bandh at all, and that there has been a communication mistake on behalf of the media. Speaking to The Asian Age, Sanjay Nirupam, president of the city Congress unit, said, “We had not called for a bandh. We had called for a Jan Akrosh Morcha, and it has been wrongly portrayed deliberately. Congress does not need to call for a bandh, as all businesses are shut anyway owing to demonetisation.”

Madhav Bhandari, spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, “I was in Pune, and there was no trace of the bandh. Seeing that the whole thing is turning out to be a flop show, the Congress has backtracked on its words and called this a Jan Akrosh Morcha, instead of a bandh.”

Ashish Shelar, president of BJP’s Mumbai unit, said, “There is no anger among the people towards PM Narendra Modi. They support the drive against black money. Under the pretext of giving voice to the common people’s opinion, the Congress is supporting hoarders of black money. The bandh failed miserably, as we had anticipated.”

Meanwhile, several small vendors expressed their reluctance to participate in the strike. Gangadhav Choudhary, a small vendor from Fashion Street, said, “Mondays are good days for business, as many other markets are closed. I am not making enough money these days, as old notes have been withdrawn. So I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to sell some things.”

Similarly, Premlal Katri, who sells shoes on a footpath in Dadar said, “I was not aware there is a strike. Even if I knew about it I would not have participated. Dadar market is shut on Monday, so we are a group of 30-35 vendors who conduct business even on this day. Thus, we make more money. All of us sit either on Kelkar Road or the Ranade Road.”