Three buses were torched in Lucknow and two persons were injured in a clash between rail passengers and bundh supporters in Hooghly district, West Bengal. All the metros, including Delhi and Mumbai, remained largely unaffected.
The bundh was sponsored by the CPM, CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Janata Dal (Secular), AIADMK, Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Rashtriya Lok Dal, Indian National Lok Dal and the Lok Janshakti Party. The CPI-ML (Liberation) supported the bundh call in Bihar. Police arrested LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan, RJD leader Ramkripal and CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya in Patna and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav, in Lucknow.
The bundh affected rail and air traffic in a big way in West Bengal. Only 10 out of 25 domestic and international flights originating from Kolkata took off. Barring minor instances of forced downing of shutters, the bundh was peaceful in Kerala.
Schools, colleges closed
Schools and colleges remained closed and examinations were put off. Activists of the left parties who stopped trains at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur, Palakkad and Thalassery were removed by the police. Scores of Left activists were detained in Lucknow when they tried to force their way into Vidhan Bhavan. In Allahabad, SP activists stopped the Lucknow-bound Goamti-Ganga Express at Prayag station.
At many places, the police had to use force to disperse SP workers when they indulged in stone throwing and tried to force shopkeepers to down their shutters. However, government offices, educational instutions, business establishments and banks functioned normally.
The nationwide bundh call evoked a mixed response in Bihar. While shops and business establishments remained closed, government and private offices functioned as usual, though the employees’ attendance was thin.
Trains became the soft target as the activists of the RJD, LJP and the CPI-ML marched in tandem and blocked the tracks. Vehicular traffic was also affected for few hours when bundh supporters burnt tyres and blocked the NH-31 and NH-57.
Some minor skirmishes between the police and the activists took place at Gaya, Katihar, Lakhisarai and Bhagalpur.
Shops and business establishments across Orissa closed their shutters during the bundh. Except two wheelers, all other vehicles, including both private as well as government-run public transport buses, were off the road. Train services were severely affected as activists squatted on the railway lines. Though government offices remained open, the employees’ presence was poor.
The bundh evoked mixed response in Tamil Nadu, while claiming the life of an AIADMK worker who immolated himself.
DH News Service
Shutdown shows public anger: CPM
The CPM has said the success of the hartal (bundh) on Tuesday showed people’s anger at the Centre’s inability to check the rise in prices of essential food items, reports DHNS from New Delhi. In a statement, the party said the bundh had been observed completely in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Orissa, Kerala and Tripura.
The bundh was complete in Tamil Nadu, except in Chennai, where it was partially observed, the party said. It was likewise successful in the whole of Andra Pradesh except in Hyderabad, according to the party. It had also claimed partial success in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi.
The CPM has said the success of the hartal (bundh) on Tuesday showed people’s anger at the Centre’s inability to check the rise in prices of essential food items, reports DHNS from New Delhi. In a statement, the party said the bundh had been observed completely in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Orissa, Kerala and Tripura.
The bundh was complete in Tamil Nadu, except in Chennai, where it was partially observed, the party said. It was likewise successful in the whole of Andra Pradesh except in Hyderabad, according to the party. It had also claimed partial success in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi.