New Delhi: Barely a month after Connaught Place traders were asked to shut shop by 6.30 pm because of the Cockroach Janta Party-led Jantar Mantar protests, they say business has been disrupted again — this time by road closures for an NDMC Tiranga Yatra on 17 August, flagged off by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
On Monday, New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) members noted at a press interaction that the NDMC had closed roads around the Inner Circle and set up tents for the rally during market hours, leaving some shopkeepers unable to reach their establishments. They added that the disruption had come at the worst possible time, just as the festival season was beginning.
NDTA general secretary Vikram Badhwar told ThePrint that the repeated disruptions — including the day tear gas was fired inside the Inner Circle during the CJP protest — had badly hit sales. He questioned whether authorities would offer any relief on property tax, GST or income tax to offset the losses. He was also critical of the choice of venue for large public events.
“These events belonged in more open spaces like India Gate or the national stadiums rather than a working commercial district. Because of the Tiranga rally, there has been three consecutive days of closures on Radial Road 1, and since yesterday evening even the Inner Circle itself has been shut with traffic left stationary and no officials present to manage it,” he said.
When he questioned the closure, he said he was told it was because the Chief Minister was arriving.
In messages on the association’s WhatsApp group, Badhwar asked members to gather for a press interaction on Monday.
“Is CP a market complex or a public park being used by Govt authorities at their own whims and fancies?” read one of his messages. The association is now also seeking accountability for the losses suffered by traders.
Gupta said the market saw blocked roads, barricades and traffic snarls that morning. He alleged that while hawkers had advance notice of the event and were absent as a result, the NDTA — the market’s official representative body — was neither consulted nor informed.
“These unannounced closures without traders’ consent have left shop owners and visitors stranded outside the Inner Circle,” Gupta said, urging authorities not to treat CP as a public park.
Association members also alleged that hawkers appeared to receive more consideration from authorities than tax-paying shopkeepers, who were not even given advance notice.
The disruptions come amid the nationwide Har Ghar Tiranga 2026 campaign ahead of India’s 80th Independence Day. The period has also seen the NDMC host a 10-day art exhibition at CP’s Janpath Subway Art Gallery, while Delhi’s Chief Minister has led a separate Tiranga Yatra at the Assembly.
The protest shutdown
The first blow came via a New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) circular issued on July 23, directing all shops, offices and restaurants in CP to close by 6:30 pm that day. Marked “Most Important/Urgent”, the advisory asked establishment owners to comply “to avoid any unpleasant situation and save yourself from any loss of property and injury.”
NDTA president Atul Bhargava and joint secretary Amit Gupta had said the closure was a precautionary step, driven by concern that protesters dispersing from Jantar Mantar could move into CP — as had happened on the first day of the demonstrations, when tear gas was used inside the market. Bhargava also alleged that police personnel originally deployed in CP had been partly diverted to manage the nearby protests, leaving the market more exposed.
Gupta, whose own business sits closest to the protest site, said footfall had dropped sharply because of the demonstrations and the shutdown of nearby metro stations, even though the market otherwise functioned normally after the first day of unrest.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)