Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday brushed aside worries that the INDIA bloc's 'Chalo Delhi' rally would hurt business in the capital, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah the country's "only two traders" and saying that losses suffered by them were acceptable.
Speaking to a news agency before the mobilisation, Raut said there were "no real concerns among the traders" and that in India the "only two 'traders'" were Modi ji and Shah ji, who were "certainly suffering losses". If such movements cost the two leaders, "then so be it", he added.
The MP said lakhs of people were travelling to Delhi despite attempts to stop them, and argued that every barricade would only enlarge the crowd. He described the gathering as the strength of the nation rather than of any single party, and said people were demanding a change of regime.
Raut also attacked the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the poll body was acting under pressure from the ruling dispensation and that constitutional watchdogs had "surrendered their autonomy". The alliance, he said, would not allow the commission to become a "front organisation" for the ruling party. The INDIA bloc is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Samajwadi Party leader S T Hasan, speaking separately to the same agency in Moradabad, said the event could be "historic" if the government did not interfere with it. He claimed that India's electoral integrity was being questioned abroad and that the country was increasingly being described as a "pseudo-democracy".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a video message posted on X on Saturday, asked supporters heading to the capital to combine the trip with shopping from neighbourhood traders before Diwali, Chhath and Bhai Dooj, and said the opposition's programme would not damage businesses.
Estimates of the crowd varied sharply. The alliance has projected that up to 10 lakh people could attend, while Delhi Police expects about 50,000, against a ground that holds 45,000 to 50,000 people when empty. Senior leaders expected at the venue include Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Hemant Soren, Revanth Reddy, Tejashwi Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.
Accounts of the schedule differed. One said the rally would begin at 11 am with MPs assembling at the Constitution Club before moving towards Ramlila Maidan; another said the march would start at noon from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction. Delhi Traffic Police has announced diversions and restrictions across parts of Central Delhi between 10 am and 5 pm and asked commuters to plan their journeys.
(With inputs from media reports)