New Delhi, Apr 5 (KNN) In forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the votes of crores of traders will play a decisive role in deciding the fate of candidates in 195 Lok Sabha Constituencies in 19 states, said Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in a release.

While making a strong and straight declaration of converting 7 crore traders and their 30 crore employees across country in a vote bank, National President of CAIT B.C. Bhartia said that there are about 7 crore traders across Country and nearly 30 crore people are dependent upon these traders for their livelihood and if their votes are converted into a vote bank, the election scenario can be changed completely.

He said “Trading community all over the Country feel grossly neglected as their core issues hanging fire since decades still remains unresolved. “

It is sad that no party has ever taken traders on its priority and no efforts were ever made to ensure systematic and structured growth of domestic trade in the Country, he added.

In Delhi, sealing and Rent Act are major issues that needs to be addressed properly said Bhartia. In addition he highlighted other core issues across the Country like disadvantage to traders from e commerce, impact of FDI in Single Brand Retail, non-availability of finance from banks and financial institutions, harassment and victimization of traders by the authorities and many more, which always bother traders and hamper smooth business activities, added CAIT.

The 195 seats includes three seats in Delhi Chandni Chowk, New Delhi & South Delhi, 33 seats in UP, 11 seats in Rajasthan, 13 seats in Gujarat, 21 seats in Maharashtra, 14 seats in MP, 4 seats in Chattisgarh, 16 seats in West Bengal, 7 seats in North East region, 6 seats in Jharkhand, 15 seats in Bihar, 16 seats in Tamilnadu, 3 seats in Telangana, 4 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 5 seats in Kerala, 7 seats in Odisha, 4 seats in Haryana, 3 seats in Punjab and 10 seats in Karnataka.

Prominent seats among 195 seats include Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Jhansi, Pune, Nagpur, Akola, Kolhapur, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhuvneshwar, Gauhati, Kolkata, Midnapore, Siliguri, Asansol, Raipur, Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Banglore, Hyderabad, Tirupati, Cochin, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Sonepat, Muzaffarpur, Jammu, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Alwar etc.

Out of 195 seats about 70% are in urban areas and 30% in semi-rural or rural areas. These seats have dominance and influence of traders whose votes may decide who gets elected in elections, pointed CAIT.

CAIT estimated that in all these constituencies’ traders constitute nearly 40% of the total votes in each constituency whereas there are about 40 seats in different states where traders can influence the result of the elections having their presence from 15% to 20% of the total votes.