new delhi sealed locks dustcovered shutters and dogs idling on nearempty streets the lanes of the once bustling suit market at amar colony in south delhi are almost deserted today in a single day on march 8 in 2018 350 shops there were closed down making it the site of the biggest sealing exercise since december 2017 when the supreme court revived the committee to monitor illegal commercial establishments but other places too have suffered similarlythe triple whammy sealing economic slowdown and infrastructure woes has delhis traders considered traditional bjp supporters in a fix as february 8 approaches and they have to opt for the party to vote to power in delhi with estimates of 15 lakh in its fold and another 2025 lakh as employees the trader community is a significant influence group in delhi politics and the parties cannot afford to alienate itwith the gross state domestic product of delhi logging rs 78 lakh crore in 201819 the city bustles with economic activities both manufacturing and services there are 1820 assembly constituencies among them karol bagh chandni chowk sadar bazar wazirpur rajouri garden and rohini populated by a large number of trading families and for them sealing is one among many woes that will sway their thoughts on voting dayaafter his defence colony market shops basements and upper floors were sealed in 201718 jagdish gupta has been conducting business from rented space at the defence colony flyover market i have shops in a prominent market but am forced to pay rent i dont know how long this uncertainty will last said gupta our hopes were high after dda amended the rules in june 2018 but nothing has changedbrijesh goyal national convenor of chamber of trade and industry and also of aam aadmi partys trade wing claimed that sealing would be the primary election issue for the traders union urban affairs minister hardeep puri says that shops have been desealed but that is not true goyal contended around 9000 shops remain shut downbesides sealing there are other grouses that the traders have against the political system praveen khandelwal general secretary confederation of all india traders asserted that merchants also wanted infrastructure development while the municipal corporations rake in crores of rupees in parking and conversion charges no infrastructure has been developed traffic congestion and parking affects consumer patterns he saidexpressing similar frustrations about the cess collected by the municipal bodies not leading to development sanjay bhargav president chandni chowk sarv vyapar mandal added lack of infrastructure in markets is the main issue highlighted by the supreme courtkhandelwal said cait was also demanding further simplification of the goods and services tax setup because complicated forms and monthly filing requirement still rankle small shop owners are forced to spend money on accountants for this he said while pointing out that delhis godown policy too continued to be faulty with storage not allowed in urban areas under master plan delhi 2021yogesh singhal head of bullion and jewellers association in