For the convenience of the city residents, former Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had shifted the old Tractor Market to Rajpura Road to increase the beauty of the city and provide parking facilities to the city residents. The Aam Aadmi Party government is depriving 700 shopkeepers of their business by selling the plots of 15 shops on the land where a multi-storied parking was to be constructed for the city dwellers.
A multi-storied parking lot was to be built on the old tractor market land for the city residents, but this land is being sold by the Bhagwant Mann government. Around five showroom plants from the parking lot have already been sold through e-auction. The office bearers of several associations of the city’s markets informed the Punjab president of Mahila Morcha, Biba Jai Inder Kaur, and sought help.
BJP’s Patiala District Urban President Sanjeev Sharma Bittu along with Biba Jai Inder Kaur, senior BJP leader KK Sharma and other party workers visited the old tractor market on Monday and took stock of the situation. Meanwhile, a large number of shopkeepers and officials of associations were also present with them.
The shopkeepers told Jai Inder Kaur that the Bhagwant Mann government has done injustice to the people of Patiala by deciding to sell the land reserved for parking in the city by Captain Amarinder Singh during his tenure as the Chief Minister. According to the speed with which the number of vehicles is increasing, there is no arrangement for parking in the city. Captain Amarinder Singh and Lok Sabha member Maharani Praneet Kaur have dreamed of bringing Patiala city to the category of smart city.
Selling the main parking lot of the heritage city is a big betrayal to the people of Patiala. Shopkeepers told Jai Inder Kaur that Chandni Chowk, Anardana Chowk, A.C. market, Adalat Bazar and Dharmapura Bazar are major shopping centers for the people of not only of Patiala district but also of the entire state. Currently, many shopkeepers of Dharmapura Bazaar and Adalat Bazaar have been forced to move to the outlying areas due to the problem of parking.
The existing shopkeepers had hoped that one day multi-storey parking would be established in the old tractor market and business would return to normal in the said markets. But the Aam Aadmi Party has made it clear by taking the decision to sell the parking land that the Punjab government wants to increase its income somehow by selling the land and the Aam Aadmi Party is not concerned about the convenience of the common people. This is the reason why people are feeling cheated after the assembly elections.
On this occasion, the newly appointed BJP District Urban President of Patiala Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that selling parking land is absolutely wrong and the BJP will not allow this push with the shopkeepers at any cost. He said that the city is already shrinking due to encroachments and if the parking facility is also taken away from the people, then there will be no space left even to park two wheelers in the markets of the city. He said that selling the land reserved for parking is absolutely wrong and if the shopkeepers have to go to court in this regard, they will help the shopkeepers in every possible way, so that the sinking business of the shopkeepers can be saved.
Shopkeepers including BJP leaders expressed their anger against the Aam Aadmi Party by raising slogans against the Punjab government. On this occasion, Biba Jindra Kaur, Sanjeev Sharma Bittu, KK Sharma, Anil Bajaj, Bimala Devi, Nathu Ram, Anil Mangla, Sonu Sangar, Nikhil Batish, besides officials of market associations and shopkeepers of different markets were present.