Kejriwal's meat ban promise irks Amritsar businessmen

Amritar: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal's poll promise of banning sale of meat and liquor in the walled city part of Amritsar, by declaring it a 'holy city', has piqued the local business community comprising both Sikhs and Hindus."He has made a political statement without studying the ground reality and analyzing its after effects. How can anyone ask us to shut our shops and run the business from a new place? I don't think this is possible," said Jasbir Singh, owner of a dhaba situated inside Hathi Gate in the walled city.He said their dhaba was more than five decades old and his whole family was dependent on it. He said there were hundreds of dhabas and rehriwalas selling chicken, fish and mutton in the walled city. "Where will all these people go," he questioned. Similarly, another dhaba owner Deepak Kumar said, "Your do your politics but you have no right to snatch away our established business." He said the whole business community would oppose AAP and wouldn't vote for them. President of Amritsar Poultry Industry Association G S Bedi said, "This is a political gimmick. How can you prevent anyone from doing a trade flourishing for centuries?" He said instead of depriving people of their source of livelihood, Kerjiwal should concentrate on common man's cause. economy of state, and law and order situation. National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) zonal chairman Jodh Singh Bhandari said, "People are not going to vote for AAP if Kejriwal makes such announcements." He said over 20,000 chickens were consumed in Amritsar every day with major portion of population of the city living in the walled city.