Mixed response to bandh in BJP-ruled Gujarat

The call for a nationwide strike given by 21 Opposition parties, including the Congress, against the rising prices of petrol products, evoked a mixed response in the home state of the prime minister – Gujarat.

Many parts wore a deserted look, while the others functioned normally.

While leaders and workers of the key Opposition party leaders in the state, the Congress, came out on the streets to enforce the bandh, many parts of Gujarat where the party has a negligible presence remained functional.

However, by the Congress' standards, the bandh was definitely a success, as relatively more people stayed away from their work and Congressmen could be seen out in the open to enforce the bandh without any untoward incident.

This could also be attributed to large posse of police personnel deployed by the ruling BJP across the state.

The police detained over 300 Congressmen across the state, including their state party chief Amit Chavda and party in-charge for Gujarat and parliamentarian Rajiv Satav, who too were detained for trying to enforce bandh in Ahmedabad.

The leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Paresh Dhanani too was detained in his hometown Amreli.

In Ahmedabad, educational institutes remained closed. However, petrol pumps and majority markets in the commercial capital of the state remained open.

Educational institutions also remained closed in other major cities as Rajkot, Surat and Mehsana.