New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS): After its proposal to withdraw weekend curfew in the national capital was rejected by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, the Delhi government said on Friday that it is unfortunate that the LG has turned down the strong demand of traders and the business community.

"The LG has rejected the proposal of the elected government despite the fact that Corona cases are reducing at a very fast pace. When all markets of Gurugram and Noida are open, why should the business community of Delhi be made to suffer by the BJP-led Central government," the Delhi government said in a statement.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a press conference, "I met people from the Greater Kailash Market Association and they informed me that due to the odd-even arrangement for shops and the weekend curfew that is in place, they could only run their business for two days last week, which will be three days next week. Due to this, the shopkeepers are facing great troubles and it is becoming hard for them to even run their households."

"The wages of the poor people working at these shops have also been deducted due to the decline in sales, causing them to struggle even more. Meanwhile, the BJP in Delhi is running a false campaign, plotting a conspiracy in which they are sending messages to Delhi's market associations that CM Arvind Kejriwal is disrupting Delhi's businesses," he added.

"The Lieutenant Governor is a representative from BJP's Central government and has deliberately forced Delhi to impose the weekend curfew and odd-even arrangement for shops. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority is chaired by the LG, in which the elected Delhi government can only present a proposal, and the final decision belongs to the LG.

"Today, all those politicians of the BJP have been exposed, as despite requests and proposals from the Delhi government, BJP's representative, the LG, neither removed the weekend curfew, nor the odd-even system of opening of shops," Bharadwaj concluded.