Trader body seeks BJP ticket for its leader from Delhi

New Delhi, April 13: The apex body for traders in the country - Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) - has sought Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket for its Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency in Delhi.

The basis of demand is that Chandni Chowk is primarily a traders dominated seat where a large number of traders and their employees are voters.

"If Mr. Khandelwal is made a BJP nominee from Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency then the traders of Delhi will rally behind him and they can lend support to BJP on other seats of Delhi as well. Likewise, the candidature of Mr. Khandelwal will give a strong positive feeling to trading community across the country for supporting BJP which will be a shot in the arm for the party," says CAIT Delhi State President Vipin Ahuja.

The CAIT claims of having the support of about 2500 Trade Associations of Delhi and about 19 lakh traders across the city.

Of late, the CAIT has been trying to form a vote bank of the traders in the country.

It organised a National Convention on April 03-04 at Pondicherry to decide the role and strategy of trading community in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Khandelwal had told OneIndia that the party or parties which will recognise the 'Traders' National Charter' will get outright support of around 30 crore voters who are indirectly associated with more than 7 crore traders across the country.

The traders' body has been sending even veiled warnings to the political parties, especially the BJP, that by launching a whisper campaign, the traders can influence the mindset of voters.

The CAIT claims of having the power to influence election results in 195 Lok Sabha Constituencies in 19 States.

According to the CAIT, these 195 seats include 33 seats in UP, 21 seats in Maharashtra, 16 seats each in West Bengal and Tamilnadu,15 seats in Bihar, 14 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 13 seats in Gujarat, 11 seats in Rajasthan, 10 seats in Karnataka, 07 seats each in North East region and Odisha, 06 seats in Jharkhand, 05 seats in Kerala, 04 seats each in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, 04 seats in Haryana, 03 seats each in Telangana, Punjab and Delhi.

Interestingly, the AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday released a report card of Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, the BJP MP from Chandni Chowk. The AAP has alleged Harsh Vardhan failed on issues like full statehood, sealing drive, and pollution.

The AAP is coming out with such 'report cards' which are a compilation on the hits and misses of all seven BJP MPs from the national capital. Prior to this, the ruling party in Delhi had brought out the report card of BJP state unit chief and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday.