West Bengal,Kerala bear brunt of Bharat Bandh

A 12-HOUR nationwide bandh,which the Left termed very successful in large parts of the country,on Tuesday hit normal life and affected air and rail services....

A 12-HOUR nationwide bandh,which the Left termed very successful in large parts of the country,on Tuesday hit normal life and affected air and rail services,especially in the Left-ruled states of West Bengal and Kerala where educational institutions were closed and streets wore a deserted look.

The Bharat Bandh,called by 13 non-NDA and non-UPA parties to protest against price rise,began at 6 am and also had some impact in Orissa,Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Sporadic protests marked the hartal elsewhere in the country,including the national capital.

Besides the four Left parties,the 13-party grouping which gave the call for the bandh consists of AIADMK,BJD,SP,RJD,TDP,RLD,LJP,JD(S) and INLD. The grouping is pressing for a rollback in the price hike of petrol,diesel and fertiliser.

While CPM leader Brinda Karat claimed the bandh was very successful in large parts of the country,SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav warned of anarchy by people if price rise was not checked.

In West Bengal,road and rail services and flight operations were badly affected and shutters in commercial areas were down. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at railway stations and airports for want of transport.

Airport sources in Kolkata said only 10 out of 25 domestic and international flights took off on Tuesday morning. They included flights of Air India,Jet Airways and Jetlite. Two train passengers were injured as a clash broke out between travellers in Ganga Sagar Express and bandh supporters at Pandua station in Hoogly district.

An Eastern Railway spokesperson told PTI that due to obstructions put up by bandh supporters at several stations,train services were disrupted at Howrah and Sealdah division. Long-distance trains were stranded at various stations as bandh supporters sat on the railway tracks.

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Reports from Kerala said the protesters picketed trains in different stations. Both private and state-run bus services,taxis,autorickshaws and commercial vehicles kept off the roads. However,no violence was reported,police said.