For many traders in Burrabazar, Wednesday’s bandh meant that they were almost without any business for the fifth consecutive day.

Daily wage earners like porters and employees in small businesses, too, had almost no income for the fifth day in a row.

Shopowners who dared to open their shops on Wednesday were forced to close down as BJP workers kept coming in intervals to see if anyone had disobeyed their orders. Each time they told the owners to down the shutters.

“Saturday was a bank holiday, so there was no business. Sunday and Monday were holidays. We hardly had any business on Tuesday as customers could not come because of the Nabanna march and today this bandh,” said Yusuf Raiser, a trader in Burrabazar.

Many other traders standing around Kaiser echoed him. They opened their shops on Wednesday morning hoping to have some business, but in vain.

“The first BJP rally came at 10.45am. They requested us to down the shutters. The next rally came at 11.30am. This time there was a tone of command, but still, some of them folded their hands and told us to keep the shops closed,” said a trader.

“The next time there will not be any request. We have to close the shops. There is no other choice. Five days of no business is tough on us. It is tougher for the mutiyas (porters), who earn only if they get work. It is the same for employees working for the traders,” said one trader.

A porter, who had come from Howrah’s Domjur and was standing on NS Road expectantly for some work, said that a bandh hurt them badly.

“I came around 9.30am. I have yet to get any work. Usually, some traders will ask us to carry some stuff and we are paid for that. Today, most shops are closed. The ones that opened will have to close now. I will wait for an hour and then go back home if I see that there is no scope for any income today,” said the man. He said most porters make around ₹250 a day.

Metro followed a BJP rally on NS Road in Burrabazar.

Kushal Pandey, who identified himself as BJP’s north Calcutta district secretary, was leading the rally.

The BJP supporters asked the owners of each shop to down the shutters. “This is for the fight for our mothers and sisters,” said one from the rally.

Pandey told the newspaper that all shopowners were closing their shops willingly.

But a walk through the area revealed a different story.

Traders were waiting at the doors of their shops apprehensively. Some kept the shutters half down, not knowing what to do.

“We have come to do business. But I do not know if it will be prudent to continue after two rallies by the BJP in the area,” said a trader. “Also it’s unlikely that too many customers would come,” he added.

Nearly half the shops on Brabourne Road and other parts of Burrabazar remained closed.

It was a similar picture in some other parts of central Calcutta like in the area around Poddar Court.