Markets across Delhi were closed on Wednesday as traders downed shutters to protest against the ongoing sealing and demolition drive by the MCD.
This was in response to a bandh called in the capital by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which claims to have a membership of 10 lakh Delhi shopkeepers.
All the markets in the capital are closed including the busy Chowri Bazaar, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, South Extension, Lajpat Nagar and Green Park, claimed Confederation General Secretary Praveen Khandelwal.
About 500 traders' bodies in the capital are participating in the bandh, he claimed.
However, essential services and public transport have been exempted from the bandh, he said.
Terming the bandh as "unprecedented", he said traders and their employees were holding demonstrations in various parts of the metro.
The state unit of the BJP has also called for a bandh on Wednesday in support of traders, affected by the court-ordered drive against illegal and unauthorised construction.
"Our workers will move out on the streets and appeal to the people to support the cause of the traders of the city," State BJP president Harsh Vardhan said.
Shiromani Akali Dal and Swadeshi Jagran Manch have also announced their support to the bandh called by traders.
Traders in small groups had demonstrated at various places across the national capital on Tuesday against the sealing drive.
