Chandigarh: Tandon promises to resolve furniture market issues

As part of his campaign to reach out to voters from different segments of society, BJP’s Chandigarh candidate Sanjay Tandon on Wednesday interacted with shopkeepers at the furniture market in Sector 53 and 54.
Members of the Furniture Market Association apprised Tandon of their concerns, especially the frequent fire incidents. The association demanded an alternative site for the market with proper facilities.
Addressing the gathering, Tandon said, “I have an emotional connection with people of the furniture market. Whenever fire incidents happen in the market, I feel terribly sad and feel like it happened in my own house. I have put forth the issue multiple times at the highest level. I assure you that if elected to power, I will work towards a permanent solution to the problem.”
The BJP leader went from shop to shop, where he received a rousing welcome from shopkeepers.
Notably, set up illegally on agricultural land, the furniture market came up around 37 years ago. Ever since, around 120 shops have been set up in the market.
While the UT administration had tried to remove the shops, mostly run by tenants, they got a stay order from the Punjab and Haryana high court in 1993 and there has been no move to shift the market ever since.
As the market is illegal, the municipal corporation has also imposed no fire-safety measures. Consequently, the market has seen over a dozen fire mishaps since its inception.
Shopkeepers contend that the administration has failed to shift the market despite several requests, even though the traders are paying around ₹10 crore GST every year.
‘Tewari distorting electoral narrative’
BJP state general secretary Amit Jindal said Congress candidate Manish Tewari should not take the electoral narrative downhill.
Responding to Tewari’s statement that his father, Prof Vishwa Nath Tewari, was shot dead by terrorists for refusing to compromise on patriotism and nationalism, and thus, his family’s blood was mixed in the soil of Chandigarh, Jindal said the BJP bowed down to the sacrifice made by Tewari’s father, but it was also pertinent to mention that the times were so turbulent that the entire Punjab was on fire.
He said more significantly, Sanjay Tandon’s father had faced the brunt of terrorism no less when Punjab terrorism was at its peak in the early 90s. He had two narrow escapes when blasts took place at the sites where he was addressing rallies in Amritsar. Their residence in Sector 11 was also attacked and as many as 16 shots were fired.
The entire Punjab looked for shelter and there was no reason that Tewari should encash the political sacrifice of his father, he said, adding that it was taking the political electoral narrative to far lower levels.