Bharat bandh: Normal life hit in several parts of the country

Normal life was disrupted in several parts of the country during the 'Bharat Bandh' called by a combined Opposition today in protest against fuel price hike with the greatest impact felt in NDA and Left-ruled states and Maharashtra.

Sporadic incidents of violence in which buses and trains were targeted and clashes with police who baton charged the protestors were reported during the day-long nation-wide strike.

Several top NDA leaders including BJP president Nitin Gadkari and his colleagues Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav courted arrest while leading protest rallies in Delhi and Lucknow.
  

CPI-M leader Brinda Karat and CPI's top brass--AB Bardhan and D Raja--also courted arrest during the bandh in a show of strength by the opposition trying to make common cause on the price rise issue to corner the Congress.

Security personnel were out in full strength to ensure there was no major law and order problem while hundreds of bandh supporters were taken into preventive custody.

Banking operations largely remained unaffected.

Jaitley and CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat claimed the bandh was an "unprecedented success".

"This protest has been widely supported by the average common man because he is really the target of the government's policies," Jaitley said.

Scores of flights were grounded in commercial airline hubs such as Mumbai and Kolkata while protesters attacked buses and trains, blocked roads with burning tyres and organised sit-down protests on key road intersections and inter-city railway links. Several trains were also forcibly stopped.

Schools, colleges and business establishments remained closed as groups of protestors hit streets trying to enforce the 12-hour bandh in some cities.

Life was thrown out of gear in NDA-ruled Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh while it was a shutdown in Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala. There was also a disruption of road and rail traffic.

Several IT firms closed shop in Bangalore as a precautionary measure.

Normal life was also hit in Congress-NCP ruled Maharashtra--mainly in Mumbai and Pune-- while the bandh had a lukewarm response in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana where UPA is in power.

The bandh did not evoke much response in the national capital barring in some areas where BJP and Left activists blocked road and rail traffic and forcibly shut shops.

Buses, autos and private vehicles were on the roads since morning while offices reported more than average attendance. However, Metro commuters faced some hardships as BJP workers organised protests at some stations, including the
busy Rajiv Chowk.

Services at the Inter-State Bus Terminals at Anand Vihar and Kashmere Gate here were also affected during the morning
hours with BJP workers blocking its entrances.

"Wrong economic policies and bad governance of the government are the basic reasons of price rise," Gadkari said addressing a rally at Chandni Chowk area here.

Flights to and from Mumbai airport were severely disrupted, with domestic airlines cancelling 45 departures and 39 arrivals. Taxis and auto-rickshaws were also off the road in the country's financial capital.

In West Bengal and Kerala, air, rail and road services were severely affected. Only Air India flights operated out of NSC Bose International Airport in Kolkata as streets wore a deserted look in the eastern metropolis where CITU gave the strike call.

Several persons were injured in as BJP and SP workers clashed with police in Lucknow where BJP leader Arun Jaitley and Samajwadi's Akhilesh Yadav were arrested.

Besides the BJP, those participating in the bandh are Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, JD-U, CPI-M, CPI, Forward Bloc, RSP, AIADMK, MDMK, TDP, BJD, JD(S), AGP, Akali Dal and INLD.