On a day when the BJP’s call for a countrywide strike evoked a mixed response even in the states where the party is in power, the party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, campaigning at Anekal in Karnataka, said, “the women find it hard to run their houses due to the price rise.” His comments, however, failed to find an echo in most parts of the country. While in BJP-ruled states there was a partial response, in others there was a poor or lukewarm reaction.

Gujarat observed a partial bandh with many business establishments in Ahmedbabd remaining open. However, Rajkot traders chose to support the bandh. There was an encore in neighbouring Rajasthan where normal life was disrupted in Ajmer, Kota, Bhilwara and Alwar, but the response was poor in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Udaipur and Jaisalmer. Majority of the markets remained closed in Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, but other essential services plied as usual. In Bihar, NDA leaders tried to forcibly shut shops in Patna, but it was business as usual after 11 am.

In some districts of Assam, normal life was paralysed because “the strike was mistaken for a bandh call by militants”, said sources. BJP cadres, led by party vice-president Bijoya Chakraborty, formed a human chain in Guwahati to protest against price rise. There was also a demonstration in the state.

BJP workers in Maharashtra too formed a human chain and staged demonstrations. In Parbhani, Nanded, and in Sholapur, the party staged demonstration and a rally was organised in Mumbai.

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