Delhi’s latest political football isn’t a policy or a scandal. It’s a basket case. A private startup, BagBaba, has launched a gig-economy service employing people to carry shopping bags for customers in Connaught Place and Khan Market. The price: 50 rupees per bag.
The usual suspects are already lining up. The Congress youth wing calls it “feudal and humiliating.” The AAP mutters about “unregulated labour exploitation.” But the BJP? They’re watching polling data. Quietly. Delhi’s service sector is a giant. Middle-class voters love convenience. And who needs a union when you have an app?
Let’s be blunt. This is a test of the capital’s tolerance for the sharing economy. Previous attempts – rented scooters, food delivery – stumbled on regulatory turf wars. But this is different. It touches a cultural nerve: the “coolie” image. The party that figures out how to tax it, regulate it, and pose with it wins the next municipal election.
Downing Street doesn’t care about Delhi footpaths. But Whitehall watches India’s gig-economy battles closely. UK ministers know the Uberisation of labour is coming for the high street. The Conservative backbenches are already split between free-marketeers and the “dignity of work” brigade. Delhi’s BagBaba could be a harbinger. Or a punchline.
Inside the Delhi Secretariat, the mood is cautious. A senior bureaucrat told me: “We issued a notice. Let the courts handle it. We have elections.” That’s Delhi politics in a nutshell. Avoid a row. Wait for the vote.
But BagBaba’s founder, a ex-IIT graduate with venture capital, insists it’s “efficiency with humanity.” He told me his employees get breaks, water, and a uniform. The Delhi Labour Department isn’t buying it. They’ve flagged a potential violation of the Contract Labour Act. The startup is in no man’s land.
The real story is the coalition of the annoyed. Street vendors fear lost income. Traditional coolies see a corporate takeover. Rickshaw pullers worry about foot traffic. The opposition is building a narrative of “suit-boot ka coolie.” It’s potent. It’s emotional. And the BJP’s Delhi unit is staying silent.
Why? Because the party’s internal polls show a split. Younger voters in South Delhi high-rises love the idea. “I’ll pay 150 to avoid carrying groceries up three floors,” one professional told me. But the older base, the shopkeepers and traders, see it as an insult to manual labour. The BJP can’t afford to anger either group.
Will it work? Delhi’s labour market is 80% informal. This isn’t a job creator; it’s a middle-class convenience. The viability is dubious. BagBaba needs 10,000 deliveries a day to break even. That’s a lot of shopping bags.
But the political lesson is clear. In the age of the app, any service is a policy issue. The next Delhi Chief Minister will either crush BagBaba with red tape or turn it into a photo op. Either way, the party that understands the new economy will win the centre ground.
For now, the lobby is quiet. The briefings are non-committal. But I hear whispers: the Prime Minister’s Office is curious. They see this as a pilot for “skilling” initiatives. If BagBaba survives the court cases, it could become a model. If not, it will be a cautionary tale in start-up circles.
The bottom line? Delhi’s shopping bag saga is a classic Westminster-style non-scandal that reveals the real divisions. The gap between the service class and the traditional working class. The tension between modernisation and dignity. And the quiet panic of politicians who don’t know which side of history their voters will choose.
Watch this space. The bags are heavy. The politics are heavier.
