The opposition's twin GST-demonetisation poll pitch could well go unheard in India's fabled Pink City with many traders saying they moved on a long time ago and the issues are not relevant in Election 2019.
But traders in the Rajasthan capital's business hubs seem to feel everything is back to normal after the initial shock of demonetisation and GST is problematic only for those who do not have transparent accounting systems.
The effect of demonetisation was temporary and GST has, in fact, streamlined financial and taxation processes. We now find it much easier to trade because system loopholes have been plugged,'' said Lakshman Harwani, a fourth generation cloth merchant whose family set up shop in Jaipur's famed Johri Bazar several decades ago.
The bustling market houses hundreds of shops of varied descriptions, with people from within the country and foreigners thronging them. It gets its name Johri Bazar from the dominant jewellery business that defines the soul of this trading hub.
Business owners across Johri Bazar said neither demonetisation nor GST are election issues in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The government demonetised high value currency notes in November 2016. The following year, in July 2017, the government introduced GST. We have all moved on from those times. The shocks of demonetisation lasted some four months after which everything was back to normal. Now systems are so transparent that small traders like me are actually making more profits than before, said Manoj Gaur, who runs a roaring bangle business in the area.
Several traders said those objecting to GST are people who did not have transparent accounting systems earlier.
GST may have troubled a section of very small businessmen who relied on informal accounting systems like the old time accounting books that had no links to formal taxation systems. These people have had to learn how to maintain accounts books, generate computer receipts and bills and file income tax returns. They have had to now hire chartered accountancy services, said Sant Kumar Khandaka of Johri Bazar's Jain Jewellers.
Khandaka, whose vast gems business makes him a leading exporter in town, said GST is not disruptive but reformatory.
The GST to that extent is seen as disruptive by some traders but at closer look it is actually reformatory. Reform is like a bitter bill. GST is a reform, Khandaka added.
There are many who believe demonetisation cleansed the system, and is a move worthy of the risk it entailed.
S. Bhattacharya, manager at LMB, one of Jaipur's leading sweet shop chains, said he was overseeing a party at his restaurant when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016.
The shock value of the move was striking. Everyone's instant reaction was one of awe. The party dispersed in minutes to address the cash woes the move had caused. In days, the system was back to normal and most people believed it was a necessary shock for a cash rich corrupt economic system, Bhattacharya said. In his view, GST helped cleanse the economy of black money.
Many across Jaipur's trading areas hailed the prime minister's boldness and decision making capacity, but said they feel pained at how the political discourse was being lowered in these elections.
Who can take such bold decisions like GST and note ban and sending the Air Force to strike on Pakistan based terror camps? asked Rajesh Khandelwal, ruling out any troubles for the BJP in Rajasthan, one of the few states where the Congress is pitted directly against the BJP.
Khandelwal said nationalism is a major election issue in Rajasthan which sends many of its boys to defend the borders.
The fact that Pakistan returned a captured Indian Air Force pilot within hours goes to PM Modi's credit. It is also a matter of pride that India finally sent a message of zero tolerance to Pakistan sponsored terror by attacking the militant camps in Balakot. These things have had their impact, said Ram Chand, a worker at a local footwear shop.
The Congress for its part is pitching for a reworked GST if it comes to power. The party's Lok Sabha election manifesto promises include a new GST. It finds reflection in party campaigns on the ground with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot flagging issues of bread and butter over nationalism.
Congress leaders maintain GST and demonetisation continue to be issues with small traders who are now forced to spend money on chartered accountants and the like.
At his rallies across the state, Gehlot has been telling people to hold Modi accountable for lack of jobs, agrarian distress, weak economy, falling exports and rising costs.
In Jaipur, the Congress is banking this time on Jyoti Khandelwal, a former mayor of Jaipur from 2008 to 2013, the first time in almost six decades that the party has fielded a woman. She is pitted against sitting MP Ram Charan Bohra, who in 2014 defeated Congress candidate Mahesh Joshi by over five lakh votes.
Jyoti Khandelwal is from the trading Vaish community, which was last represented in Jaipur in 1977 when Satish Chandra Aggarwal defeated Gayatri Devi.
Jaipur goes to the polls on May 6.
May 23, when the votes will be counted, will tell whose poll narrative appealed more to voters.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)