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.

A bandh call by the Delhi Traders’ Association received a mixed reaction with some markets remaining closed. The traders also held a demonstration at Rajghat.

However, the bandh was near total in Kerala. The strike, which had been scaled down to last 12 hours in the state, was largely peaceful. The police arrested three BJP supporters in Thiruvananthapuram for trying to stop the KSRTC convoys.

Police had to be summoned to pacify scores of passengers who were to take the early morning ship to the Androth Island in Lakshwadeep from Beypore in Kozhikode, after the ship’s captain stayed away, claiming that he couldn’t travel to the port due to the hartal.

In Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, BJP workers took out a rally to protest against skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.

However, the strike did not have any impact in Tamil Nadu with shops remaining open all over the state and state transport services plying normally. In Coimbatore, 130 BJP workers were taken in custody when they attempted to stage picketing.

The bandh, however, disrupted normal life in Himachal Pradesh and Manipur with shops, markets and business establishments remaining closed. In Jammu and Kashmir, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, it evoked a partial response.