Bharat bandh over FDI in retail, diesel price hike begin

Mangalore Today/ NDTV

New Delhi, Sept 20: The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance along with other opposition parties have called a nationwide bandh today to protest against the government’s reform measures announced last week. Nearly 5 crore traders and 25,000 trade associations are also taking part in this bandh demanding rollback of FDI in multi-brand retail. Schools, colleges, markets and transport services are likely to be affected in most states.

 

The protests began early this morning in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Workers belonging to BJP Yuva Morcha blocked three trains at Patna railway station and in Darbhanga, CPI(ML) workers stopped the Ganga Sagar Express. In Allahabad, Samajwadi Party workers staged demonstrations on rail tracks. There are also reports of trains being stopped in Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

In the national capital, public transport is running smoothly so far. Metro trains are also on time.


Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra is likely to be unaffected by the bandh call due to Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. Both the MNS and the Shiv Sena and even the BJP have said that they will not enforce the nationwide strike in the state because of the ongoing festival. While MNS supports FDI in retail, BJP and Shiv Sena are opposed to it. So public transport, malls, super markets all other services are likely to function normally. Schools and colleges also will stay open.

Karnataka meanwhile has seen partial effect of the bandh call so far. While buses are off the road, autos are plying.  Trains are also running on time. There have been no protests so far.

Taking some politically tough decisions last week, the government had hiked the price of diesel by Rs. 5 per litre, capped the supply of subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders to six per household and cleared 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment or FDI in multi-brand retail - reforms, which saw its biggest ally, Mamata Banerjee, pull out of the UPA. The opposition has called for the bandh to protest against these reform measures.