Normal life was affected in Bihar on Saturday during a bandh called by RJD and LJP against fuel price hike with protesters blocking roads and railway tracks while the chiefs of the two parties Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan were among 11,360 people detained statewide.
Prasad, who arrived here from Delhi, was detained while leading a party procession that shouted slogans against the Centre and the state government and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Paswan said, "The massive response to our bandh call suggests dissatisfaction of the people over the Central and state government's failure to check prices."
He urged the Centre to roll back the increased prices of petrol, cooking gas, kerosene and diesel. Kumar, however, said the bandh had no impact.
"Had the two parties been serious about the price spiral, they would have joined the Bharat bandh called by Opposition parties on July 5," he said.
RJD and LJP activists took out processions on busy Bailey Road and Ashok Raj Path in the state capital and blocked the roads for several hours, official sources said. About 11,360 activists of RJD and LJP including their top leaders were arrested, they said. Among others detained were state RJD chief Abdul Bari Siddiqui, its newly-elected Rajya Sabha member Ramkripal Yadav, former Union ministers Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, J P Yadav and Kanti Singh. Bandh supporters burnt tyres and blocked railway tracks and national and state highways at various places in the state. Most shops and business establishments remained closed though banks and other financial institutions were open. Most offices of central and state governments wore a deserted look because of poor attendance. Long queues of trucks and other vehicles were seen on National Highway at Jarua, Ara, Aurangabad, Muzaffarpur and Sasaram as protesters blocked the roads.
The bandh evoked good response in Aurangabad, Gaya, Ara, Masaurhi, Nawada, Barh, Jehanabad, Gopalganj, Chapra, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Saharsa.
Several trains were left stranded in the state because of the agitation. Among the trains running several hours behind schedule were the New Delhi-Rajendra Nagar Terminal Rajdhani Express, Sampoorna Kranti Express, Ganga-Domadar from Dhanbad to Patna, Hatia-Patna Express, Janseva Express from Saharsa to New Delhi and several passengers trains and the intercity express.
This is the second bandh in the state this week. Normal life was hit in the state on Monday due to the Bharat bandh called by the NDA and Left parties. PTI
