Published On : Tue, May 21st, 2013
Business News | By Nagpur Today Nagpur News

Untouched by traders’ “LBT Bandh,”Purti Bazaar mops up a bounty of money in lakhs, crores

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The Purti Bazaar, headed by Nitin Gadkari, former BJP President and an influential personality of Nagpur, surprisingly, is carrying out business with impunity totally unaffected by the LBT “Bandh”

 

Purti Super bazaar on Tuesday

Nagpur News: “The parties with the most gain never show up on the battlefield.” 

Notwithstanding the intense agitation of total “Bandh” launched by the Nagpur traders,BJP, businessmen, industries and other concerned Political parties and  establishments against the enforcement of Local Body Tax (LBT) by Maharashtra Government from April 1 this year, one untouched establishment, the Purti Bazaar is mopping up a bounty of money in lakhs or even crores.

The Purti Bazaar, headed and run by Nitin Gadkari, the former National President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and an influential personality of Nagpur, surprisingly is carrying out business with impunity totally unaffected by the “Bandh” agitation by the traders’ community since April 22. Amazingly, the BJP, which is the Ruling Party in the NMC, and has supported the “Bandh” agitation strongly, and even made the agitation more intense by filing a petition in the High Court against the LBT, has left the Purti Bazaar scot-free. The traders, even, did not spare anyone for the purpose of claiming the “Bandh” successful except, of course, the Purti Bazzar.

The double standards of the BJP leaders and to some extent the agitating traders, have left small or big traders, businessmen, red-faced and sulking. They see the red in the attitude of BJP and some traders discriminative as the small traders are being deprived of daily earnings and are facing lot of difficulties by the selective “Bandh” on business front. On the other hand, the Purti Bazaar is rubbing the salt on their wounds by keeping the “super establishment” open wide and deep leave alone participating in the agitation against LBT.

Since the LBT was enforced by the Congress-NCP Government in Maharashtra, the BJP, devoid of any major issue, fuelled the “Bandh” agitation of the traders to the hilt. The BJP even filed a petition against LBT in High Court in order to grab the centre-stage of the agitation and, also, showing “solidarity” with the small or big traders.

People coming out from Purti Super Bazaar

Some associations members with vested interest made the LBT issue hotter and hotter with the help of some BJP leaders. They handed over “a duty” to some “bad boys” from Gandhibagh and Itwari market areas to enforce “Bandh” in other parts of the city, even by violence like stone pelting, damaging the shops who were found open and other tactics to show the citizens and the Government that their “Bandh” agitation is massively supported by the traders and others. But their so-called success theory made the small traders, footpath vendors and other petty businessmen “victims” of the agitation as these traders heavily depend daily earnings from their business who even otherwise were exempted from the LBT.

The following lines appropriately define the vivid meanings of abbreviated LBT.

It all started with LBT ( Lighten Business Transactions ) but has led to LBT ( local body tax ) which has LBT ( Left Bombay Tense ) and has made people LBT ( Leave Bombay Today ), but the Government is LBT ( Least Bit Touched ), the shops remain LBT ( Locked bolted totally ) and the common man is LBT ( Left Bitter and Terrified ) !! The Govt should LBT ( Listen, Behave and Talk ) and think of an LBT ( Largely Beneficial Tactics ) and strengthen Maharashtra as a centre of LBT ( Liaison, Business and Trade ) !!! 

Few days ago, City Congress General Secretary Atul Kotecha blasted the local Congress leaders, who too supported the “Bandh” agitation, for turning the Nelson’s eye towards the Purti Bazaar, several major showrooms of jewelers, Haldiram group of establishments who kept their establishments open thus snubbing the protesting traders. “The is shameful on the part of Congress leaders,” Kotecha said. On the other hand, the BJP lacks the stature of leaders who could dare Nitin Gadkari and ask him to keep the Purti Bazaar closed, too.