Bandh cripples India,Oppn promises more

The NDA and Left said the bandh had been an “unprecedented success”,even as the Congress called it a “flop show”. The NDA spoke of more agitations in the days leading up to Parliament’s monsoon session. Alliance partners will meet soon to discuss their strategy.

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and NDA working convener Sharad Yadav said the issue of price rise would be raised the day Parliament meets. Yadav said he would reach out to all Opposition parties to take the agitation forward.

Left leaders said they would consult the “secular” Opposition to intensify the movement and force reversal of the “harmful” step.

Several Opposition leaders courted arrest and scores of workers were detained during the day-long protest. The NDA asked the Prime Minister to bring down prices or quit. Gadkari asked why “Rajkumar” Rahul Gandhi was silent on price rise.

Public transport was hit in most states today. Flights were affected in Kolkata and Mumbai,and train hit in several parts of the country. In Delhi,the Metro was disrupted. Public property was damaged in many states,and most schools and colleges were shut across much of India.

Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala literally shut down. In NDA-ruled Bihar,Gujarat,Orissa,Punjab,Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh,Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,protesters attacked buses and trains,blocked roads and organised demonstrations.

In Congress-NCP-ruled Maharashtra,the Shiv Sena and BJP ensured a good response. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said 155 BEST buses were damaged,and 10 employees were injured in stone-throwing. In UPA-ruled Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Haryana,the bandh had no major impact.

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

In Lucknow,BJP and Samajwadi Party workers clashed with police,leaving several injured. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely and his BJP colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi courted arrested in Lucknow.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asked the government not to make an ego issue out of the rollback of the rise in the prices of petroleum products. Speaking from the same stage as the BJP’s Gadkari and other top leaders,the NDA’s Sharad Yadav said,“UPA II has left the people at the mercy of market forces and monsoon… The Prime Minister should either bring down prices or leave his chair.”

Gadkari courted arrest along with party colleagues Rajnath Singh,Vasundhara Raje and Ravi Shankar Prasad. Yadav,CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat and the CPI’s A B Bardhan and D Raja too courted arrest.

“Price rise is related to the wrong economic policies and bad governance of the UPA government,” Gadkari said. He said that although bandhs inconvenienced people,there was no option. “What will parties do in a democracy?” Gadkari wondered whether Rahul could not “see poverty” when he “visits the houses of the poor and eats with them”. “Why does the Rajkumar (Rahul Gandhi) not speak about this,” Gadkari asked.