Normal life was disrupted in several parts of the country during the 'Bharat Bandh' called by a combined Opposition on Monday 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--A B 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 suppoters 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.
Services of over 200 trains were affected across the country on Monday due to the 'Bharat Bandh', leaving passengers in a lurch. Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express, Howrah-Haridwar Kumbh Express, Delhi-Rohtak Express, Ferozpur-Hosiarpur Express, Khemkaran-Amritsar Express were among 225 express and passenger trains that were affected, railway officials said.
Rail traffic was hampered across several zones, with railways saying that over 200 trains were left stranded due to bandh supporters squatting on rail tracks. According to a railway official here, more than 70 trains were cancelled and services of over 15 others were short terminated.
"Besides cancellation, we have rescheduled and diverted many trains keeping in mind the situation," the official said. Rail traffic was particularly hampered in West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar with Eastern Railway, South Central Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway and East Coast Railway, bearing the brunt of the bandh call.
Suburban rail services in Kolkata was badly affected and remained partially hit in Mumbai during the early hours, the official said. Eastern Railway, on the other hand, supplied essentials to train passengers stranded due to the nationwide stir. Supervisors, inspectors and officers were deployed in advance at major stations to assist passengers of detained trains, ER officials said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan claimed Bharat Bandh failed to elicit response in the state. Local and long distance trains, municipal and state transport buses plied smoothly during the bandh period, Chavan told reporters.
"45 per cent of the BEST buses and 61 per cent of State Transport buses were on the roads. Only taxis and auto rickshaws stayed away," he said, adding flights were affected to some extent.
The bandh failed to get support in rural areas. In Mumbai, 1468 people were arrested and detained while in Maharashtra 4268 activists were arrested and detained. About 2500 people were taken into preventive custody in Mumbai while elsewhere in the state, the figure was 3000, he said. There were 29 MLAs and three MPs among those arrested and detained.
Home Minister R R Patil said activists who indulged in violence will be made to pay compensation for the damages along with the organisations they represent. "Police will identify the culprits on the basis of video footage in Mumbai and the district collectors will take a decision on this issue," he added.
When asked about the government decision to move court against the bandh, Chavan said legal experts had told the government that the Supreme Court decision on bandhs was meant to be implemented and there was no need to appeal. PTI
