Oppn united over Bharat bandh: JD(U)

Citing a complete consolidation of opposition parties over fight against price rise,JD(U) president Sharad Yadav called upon them to extend their....

Citing a complete consolidation of opposition parties over fight against price rise,JD(U) president Sharad Yadav on Friday called upon them to extend their support to the proposed Bharat bandh on July 5.

Terming it a historic event,he said never before the Opposition had been as united as now to stand up for the common man reeling under price rise. He said parties ranging from the BJP to the Left and the RJD to the AIADMK had joined hands to mobilise people against the government failure to control prices. According to him,what was worse was the fact that the government had not even made any serious attempt to control the situation. He pointed out that the day the Opposition resolved to organise a bandh,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an announcement that the prices of diesel too might be decontrolled.

Though a vocal advocate of a caste census,Yadav refused to be sidetracked from the price rise issue when reporters sought his comment on the government ambivalence over the matter. I will hold a special briefing on this issue on July 6,but today,I will speak only about price rise, he said.

I dont want to go into this, he said,when reporters asked him about his perception of the role of a fake Opposition played by the SP and RJD on the cut motions moved in the Lok Sabha over price rise.

Maharashtra looks at legal options

Mumbai: Even as it prepares to face the nationwide bandh called by Opposition parties against the fuel price hike on Monday,the state government is exploring legal means to counter it. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said the government would ensure that the essential services remain unaffected in the state during the bandh. We are considering if the bandh can be challenged in the court in the light of a Supreme Court verdict that terms bandh as illegal and unconstitutional.

A senior home department official said,We are also in talks with the Centre. The Supreme Court is shut but we can approach the High Court. A decision on this will be taken on Saturday. He said the government was exploring if it could approach the court as a verdict existed in the matter though it did not expect a total shutdown of the city or state.