Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge threw a wrench into the Opposition's protest plans on Sunday, announcing that the INDIA bloc will hold its final confirmation on the November 1 Ramlila Maidan rally until after internal consultations. The delay comes directly in response to a stern memorandum from the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI). Kharge stated, "We will consult with our party and our other alliance partners before making a final decision on the next steps tomorrow."
The CTI argues that blocking 20 major markets—including Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar, and Karol Bagh—within a five-kilometer radius of the venue could stifle Diwali trade worth ₹10,000 crore. Delhi's commercial hub already bled roughly ₹3,000 crore in October due to earlier protests and road closures, according to the trade body. With Dhanteras falling on November 6 and Diwali on November 8, the merchants are desperate to keep the arteries of the capital open for their peak season. The trade group urged Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to push the event back until after November 10, the date of Bhai Dooj.
But for the INDIA bloc, this isn't just a crowd-control issue. It is an existential fight over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which the Opposition labels "vote theft." Kharge defended the protest's necessity, arguing that if citizens lack the right to vote, no amount of business protection matters. "If they don't even have the right to vote, then no trader can do business," Kharge said. The rally is the culmination of the 'Delhi Chalo' march, which started with a 'March for Democracy' on October 12 that reached the Supreme Court and President Droupadi Murmu.
Party machinery is already in full gear. General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K C Venugopal met with leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at the AICC headquarters on Friday to review logistics. The tension has shifted from the political to the economic, with Delhi's merchants now holding a leverage point the Opposition cannot simply ignore. The INDIA bloc's final verdict on whether to proceed, postpone, or cancel the mega-rally is due tomorrow.