LS polls: Shopkeepers, visitors in Puducherry's Sunday Market demand basic facilities like toilets, drinking water

By Amiya Kumar Kushwaha
Puducherry [India], April 14 : In the bustling Sunday market of Puducherry, shopkeepers and visitors have high hopes that the Lok Sabha candidates will address the issue of basic facilities, like access to drinking water and public toilets as people from all over the world come here.
When the ANI team visited the Sunday Market to know what the people wanted for one of the famous hangouts in the city, most of them pressed for toilets and drinking water.
One of them said that not only candidates but voters also have high hopes, hence pressing demands from the contestants of the Lok Sabha seats.
Muzafur Rahman, 41, a shopkeeper in the Sunday Market, said, "He has to face lots of issues due to not having a proper system of drinking water and public toilets. These are basic facilities that everyone needs. As the summer is intensifying day by day, it is causing problems for all the shopkeepers working here."
Similar views were also given by another shopkeeper, Aamir, who stressed that such facilities will not only make the lives of the shopkeepers easy but will be beneficial to the customers too.
A visitor in the Market, Sundaram, also spoke with similar opinions and said that "Such facilities are much needed in public places like the Sunday Market. The absence of fundamental amenities poses daily challenges, impacting both businesses and the comfort of visitors."
Shankar, another shopkeeper, said, "Elected representatives must do something to improve the infrastructure of the Sunday Market as people from all over the world come here and purchase items. The winning candidate must work to improve our working conditions and enhance the overall market experience."
Yameigous, 62, who has been running shops selling old and unique items for three decades in the Sunday Market, blamed the present member of parliament for doing nothing to improve the infrastructure.
Shankar, a shopkeeper in the Sunday Market, also shared his views on the Lok Sabha election and said that "There is a strong contest between Congress and BJP candidates in this Lok Sabha constituency. This time there is a neck-to-neck fight going on between the BJP and Congress candidates."
"For these shopkeepers, the Sunday Market is not just a place of commerce but a livelihood and a community hub. The plea for basic facilities reflects a broader desire for a dignified living standard among the market community. Access to clean water and sanitation is a matter of dignity and human rights, essential for fostering a thriving society," one of the visitors said.
Decades-old Sunday Market is one of Pondicherry's most popular hangouts, which provides a variety of choices of products ranging from home goods to trendy clothing, education, accessories, old unique items, and old and new books.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress candidate V Vaithilingam won the only seat in the Puducherry Parliamentary Constituency. The Congress has declared Vaithilingam as the party candidate in this Lok Sabha election too.
BJP candidate, A Namassivayam, who is the current home minister of the union territory, is contesting against him.
Voting for all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the only constituency in Puducherry will be held in the first phase on April 19.
The polling will be conducted in seven phases across the country from April 19 to June 1. The counting of votes will be on June 4.