Rahul Gandhi to Delhi Traders: Tell Modi to Sack Gyanesh Kum

New Delhi, October 27: The row over the Opposition’s planned rally in the capital has moved from the streets to the marketplace. On Monday, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi addressed Delhi’s traders directly, saying the answer to their worries lies with the Prime Minister and not with the protesters.

“To every trader in Delhi: We love you and hear you,” Gandhi wrote on X. “Tell Modi to sack accused no. 4, Gyanesh Kumar, and the protests will stop in 30 seconds.”

The traders’ plea

The message was a reply to a letter from the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), which wrote to senior Opposition leaders on October 24. It asked them to postpone the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1 until after November 10.

The traders’ case is about timing. The rally falls in the middle of the festive shopping season, and they say traffic restrictions, road diversions, and reduced access to markets could hit business worth about Rs 10,000 crore, a figure that comes from the traders’ body.

Rahul’s reply

Gandhi did not agree to postpone. He argued that the disruption in the markets stems from government decisions and not from opposition protests, and tied the traders’ interests to his campaign over the electoral rolls. “With a stolen vote nothing is safe — your shop, your savings, your children’s future,” he wrote.

The phrase “accused no. 4” is his own label for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. I found no court case in the reports I reviewed that names Kumar as an accused, and the Election Commission has rejected the Opposition’s allegations over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Congress doubles down

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge renewed his attack on Kumar and urged people to join the rally despite the traders’ concerns. The Opposition’s demand is simple: remove the CEC and rethink the SIR, which it says has led to wrongful deletions and alterations in voter lists.

The BJP’s counter

The BJP has accused Gandhi of being determined to go ahead with the rally and of playing with sentiments, in reference to November 1, a date that carries painful memories for the Sikh community because of the 1984 riots. That is the BJP’s allegation, and the Congress has not accepted it. The ruling party has also described the larger movement as an attempt at “regime change”, a charge the protest leaders reject.

I could not find a response from the Election Commission or the government to Gandhi’s post.

Why it matters

The traders’ intervention gives the government a new line of attack. It lets the BJP argue that the Opposition is willing to hurt ordinary shopkeepers during Diwali season for the sake of a political fight. For the Opposition, linking the demand to livelihoods is a way to widen the appeal of a campaign that so far has centred on technical issues of voter lists.

Delhi has already seen a month of protests, detentions and traffic disruption linked to the same dispute, including the CJP’s marches and the police’s use of prohibitory orders. The Supreme Court is also hearing a petition on the SIR exercise.

What to watch

Whether the INDIA bloc changes the date, venue, or format of the rally, what restrictions Delhi Police impose for November 1, how many people turn up, and whether traders’ bodies and the government find a way to limit the disruption.