In Lucknow, traders are unsure but continue to root for the BJP

The traders were unanimous: 'GST is a good product implemented badly.' Though reluctant, most of them said they may vote for the BJP again

Talk to any trader in Lucknow and he will tell you ‘mandi’ (slowdown) is upon us. “Pehle jeb mein paanch-dus hazar rupay pade rahte the, washing machine mein kurta dhul jata tha tab yaad aata tha ki paise jeb mein hai. Ab jeb khali hi rahti hai (there was a time when we used to forget to empty our pocket and Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 would be found when the kurta was given for washing. Now mostly our pockets stay empty),” says Sanjay Gupta, head of the UP unit of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). 

CAIT is by and large considered sympathetic to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and represents the large constituency of small and medium traders, manufacturers and shop owners, who are die-hard supporters of the BJP. 

Not any more. 

Earlier this week, Gupta, in response to an invitation from the BJP to join it, arrived at the party headquarters with almost 2,000 supporters. He found the atmosphere so uncongenial and unreceptive to him that he walked out.  “People were jostling, yelling, screaming: we were pushed around and treated like cattle,” he said. 

M N Pandey, senior BJP leader and state unit chief, held on to Gupta’s hand, entreating him to stay. Gupta just shook his head and left. “I reckoned: if this is the way they are treating us now, what will happen later,” Gupta told Business Standard. 

Days later, Union minister and Lok Sabha candidate from Lucknow, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, called him to apologise and requested him to reconsider his decision. Gupta says he hasn’t made up his mind yet. His office continues to have a garlanded picture of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “Yeh yahan shradhanjali dene ke liye rakhi hui hai (it is kept here to pay our respects),” he said with a small smile. 

A meeting with other members of the CAIT revealed the depth of the angst of traders. None of them was ready to be identified for fear of government reprisals later. But one, who has a small construction business, said his business was almost entirely over: unless he reconciled himself to becoming a small cog in the wheel for big construction firms like Larsen and Tourbro and the Adanis. “We’re having to beg for work from them. Earlier, all of us small players would get government contracts. We would build a section of a road, or a set of houses. Now the turnkey contracts are being given to one big group or the other, largely because it is easier for the government to manage these big business houses. But some of these end up becoming insolvent. So, there have been cases where we have worked for big contractors, haven’t been paid and they have declared bankruptcy. We’ve been left carrying the can,” he said. 

Many complained that e-tendering, e-procurement and online licences, cited as a way to end corruption, is nothing more than a sham. “When we bid online, scan papers and documents and upload them, and we are successful, we are told we have to report to the officer with a duplicate set of papers because there has to be physical scrutiny,” a trader said. 

An interior designer, who also has a furniture business, said his business was based on cash from clients. “People had do number ka paisa (cash) and that is what used to go to fund luxury. Now cash has been sucked out of the market. So people are postponing decisions on luxury spending.” 

And then there’s anger about the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST). In fact, the word traders fear the most is “mismatch”. “Just yesterday, I had to go to the office because the GST officers told me there is a Rs 3 crore mismatch in my accounts. “I am confident I filed my papers correctly. Now I have to see what they want,” one of them said. 

The traders were unanimous: “GST is a good product implemented badly.” Most of them said they might vote for the BJP again, but reluctantly. “BJP hamein chor samajhati hai. Lekin kya karein. Majboori hai (BJP considers us a set of theives. But what can we do? it is a compulsion to vote for them),” one of them said.