Bharat bandh turns violent, buses set on fire in Karnataka

Mangalore Today / DHNS

Bangalore, May 31, 2012:  Bangalore/Mumbai/Patna/Allahabad/New Delhi, May 31 : The one-day Bharat bandh call given by the BJP-led NDA to protest steep hike in petrol price  led to sporadic incidents of arson and stoning in some cities.

In Bangalore, miscreants set fire to three municipal corporation buses and stoned 15 buses, after which bus service throughout the city was suspended.

Schools remained closed in most of the districts of Karnataka.

 

In Delhi, auto drivers went on a day’s strike to protest hike in CNG price by the Sheila Dikshit government.

Samajwadi Party workers stopped trains in Allahabad to protest petrol price hike. The ruling party in UP had given a separate call for a statewide bandh today.

Women activists of ruling Janata Dal-United stopped the Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express at Patna station.

In Konnagar, West Bengal, BJP activists stopped a train and forced the passengers to flee.

Some BEST buses were stoned by miscreants near Santa Cruz, Mumbai this morning.

Miscreants stoned at BEST bus on route 88 in Girgaon, Mumbai. One passenger, Prasad Parab was injured in the stoning.

In Patna,  NDA Convener and JD-U  president Sharad Yadav and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain were among 800 activists taken into custody while enforcing the NDA sponsored "Bharat bandh".

 

 

Yadav along with 700 odd supporters took out processions  in Saharsa town to enforce the call. Yadav along with NDA supporters were soon taken into custody in Sahars sadar police station, sources said.

Hussain, the BJP National Spokesman, and others were detained in Bhagalpur town while trying to enforce the bandh, they said.

Talking to reporters, Yadav demanded that Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh resign immediately for "failure" of his government to control the spiralling prices of petroleum products and essential commodities.Yadav claimed the bandh was total.

 

In Delhi, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury and CPi leaders D Raja and A B Bardhan were detained while staging protest near Delhi Gate.

BJP workers set fire to a private bus near Belilious Road in Howrah, West Bengal.

Samajwadi Party workers sat on the railway tracks at Mughalsarai junction and stopped the Varanasi-Sealdah Express for more than an hour.

BJP workers led by their local leaders were out in force in different localities of Delhi.

The protests took place at Mehrauli, BRT Chowk, Khanpur, CDR Chowk, Andheria More, Dwarka Palam flyover, Karol Bagh, Naveen Shahdara, Madhuban Chowk, Badli, Jahangirpuri, Singhu border, Tilak Nagar, Raja Garden, Punjabi Bagh, Mathura Road Badarpur, Chandni Chowk, Ajmeri Gate and Azad Market.

Normal life in Odisha was disrupted during the bandh called by  NDA, Left parties and ruling BJD against steep increase in petrol price.

Shops, business establishments, schools, colleges, banks and offices remained closed throughout the state including the state capital and at Cuttack, Berhampur, Puri, Balasore, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Paradip.

In the state capital, roads wore a deserted look as public transport virtually came to a grinding halt.

Protesters carrying placards and banners held demonstrations and blockades demanding immediate roll-back of the hike in petrol price.

Train services were hit with bandh supporters blocking tracks at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur and Balasore, delaying several trains including the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Express, police sources said.

A large number of passengers were stranded at railway stations and bus stands in the state.

In West Bengal, bandh supporters blocked some roads in some areas and squatted on railway tracks.

Bandh supporters blocked the Howrah Bridge, which connects the metropolis to the Howrah district.

They also blocked roads at Chapadali more in Barasat, in Bankura district, Budge Budge and some other places, police said.

However, buses, cars, taxis, trams were running in the metropolis though in less number.

Normal life was affected in Punjab due to the strike.

Commercial establishments in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Batala, Kapurthala, Pathankot and Amritsar remained closed, though factories and other industrial units were operational.

The impact of bandh was also visible on the transport network with buses including private ones remaining off the road, causing inconvenience to people, as per reports pouring in from various districts including Patiala, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Kapurthala.

However, in Chandigarh, shops and commercial establishments remained open and buses were plying as usual.

In Congress-led Haryana, the bandh call did not evoke much response with shops and commercial establishments remaining open at most of the places in the state.

Markets were closed in major cities of Rajasthan and private buses off the road due to the bandh.

The unprecedented hike in petrol prices has helped the Left and the Right to make common cause for the nationwide protest, described by BJP and its allies as Bharat Bandh and by Left as All India Protest Day.

This is the second time that the BJP, Left and other non-Congress parties will be coordinating their agitations since the last Lok Sabha elections to give the impression of a wider Opposition unity on issues concerning people.

A similar agitation against petrol price hike had happened on July 5, 2010.

Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, which is supporting the UPA government from outside, has also given the bandh call as has BJD in Odisha.