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The day-long nationwide shutdown or Bharat bandh on Monday against rising fuel prices called by the Congress affected normal life in Karnataka as public transport kept off the roads across the state.

“There is an overwhelming response from the public to our shutdown call as petrol and diesel price hike affects all, especially the poor,” a Congress spokesman told IANS here.

Schools and colleges were closed although state and central government offices remained open.

In Bengaluru, global software firms like Infosys and Wipro functioned normally.

With the ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supporting its ally Congress on the bandh, their cadres as well as activists of the pro-Kannada organisations like Kannada Vedica Paksha (KVP) were seen forcing restaurants, shops and fuel stations to remain shut at least till 3 p.m.

Many theatres, multiplexes and malls did not open for business. Bank transactions were hit.

“We have not opened for business for the day to avoid damage to our property caused by frenzied mobs,” a tea vendor told IANS here.

The shutdown, however, did not affect flight or train services in Bengaluru and Mysuru though passengers faced harrowing time at the airport and railway stations in the absence of buses, cabs and autos.

About 1,000 cadres and supporters of the JD-S and Congress staged a massive demonstration at the Town Hall here and took out a protest rally to the Freedom Park through main roads, which had less vehicular traffic on a working day due to the shutdown.

Emergency services, including hospitals and medical shops, were exempted from the bandh.

(IANS)

Nationwide strike today has been observed across the state today.

State-run transport corporations – BMTC, KSRTC, NWKRTC, NEKRTC – are all likely to see workers observing the strike after multiple unions voiced their support to the bandh call. Auto rickshaws and app hailed cabs will also ply in very low numbers.

The cab association members said that they will be supporting the Congress in the bandh and if need be they will protest in front of Town Hall as well.

Bengaluru Urban DC Vijay Shankar declared holiday for all schools and colleges across Bengaluru.

Nationwide strike today has been observed across the state today.

State-run transport corporations – BMTC, KSRTC, NWKRTC, NEKRTC – are all likely to see workers observing the strike after multiple unions voiced their support to the bandh call. Auto rickshaws and app hailed cabs will also ply in very low numbers.

The cab association members said that they will be supporting the Congress in the bandh and if need be they will protest in front of Town Hall as well.

Bengaluru Urban DC Vijay Shankar declared holiday for all schools and colleges across Bengaluru.

Altogether 58 Congress activists were Monday taken into police custody in Jharkhand for forcibly trying to enforce the ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by the party, a police officer said.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left parties in Jharkhand are supporting the Congress-sponsored ‘Bharat bandh called against fuel price hike.

Fifty eight Congress activists including Palamau district Congress president Jaias Ranjan Pathak were taken into custody for forcibly trying to enforce the bandh, Superintendent of Police Inderjeet Mahata said.

Barring Garhwa district, normal life is not affected in Pakur, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Lohardaga, Gumla, Ramgarh, Giridih, Latehar, Palamau, Dhanbad and other districts, according to reports.

Goods trains and passengers trainings were being escorted by the police, a police officer said.

Vehicular traffic is normal in most parts of the state, including Ranchi, the reports said.

HD Deve Gowda said that JD(S) will be supporting the Bharat Bandh called by the Congress party on Monday.

He said that, he will support the bandh but will not be participating in any event as he will be meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, he said.

Gowda said, he and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, accompanied by some MPs of the BJP and Congress, will be meeting Mr Modi to impress upon him the need to allot more funds for rehabilitation work in flood-affected areas particularly Kodagu district. “Those who are not part of the delegation to New Delhi, will be taking part in the bandh,” he stated.

Regarding the bandh, he said that constant hikes in fuel prices have burdened the common man and have adversely affected trade and commerce in the country. “The hikes are too much for the common man to bear,” he added.

(PTI)

As petrol prices on Monday shot up to Rs 89.97 in Maharashtra’s Parbhani – the highest in India – the Opposition Congress staged a ‘rail-roko’ agitation here as part of the party-sponsored nationwide shutdown to protest rising fuel prices.

Parbhani District Petrol Dealers Association (PDPDA) President Sanjay Deshmukh said that while petrol was nearly touching the psychological barrier of Rs 90 per litre, (Rs 89.97), diesel prices stood at Rs 77.92 on Monday.

Elsewhere in Maharashtra, petrol was Rs 88 and diesel at Rs 76, said All India Petrol Dealers Association (AIPDA) spokesperson Ali Daruwala, besides various local tax additions.

The all-India anti-fuel price hike shutdown got underway in different parts of Maharashtra with all parties, barring the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, joining in wholeheartedly.

Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan and Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam led thousands of activists to stage a noisy protest outside the Andheri station bus depot, and later they got down on the railway tracks, shouting anti-government slogans.

Several leaders including former ministers Naseem Khan, Manikrao Thakre, Suresh Shetty, joined the agitation as police maintained strict security at Andheri.

However, suburban trains, BEST buses, schools and colleges functioned normally, though shops and commercial establishments downed shutters in many localities, including pockets where the opposition is influential.

Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists also led aggressive protests in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Pune, Nashik and others areas of the state.

As per preliminary reports, the shutdown has elicited mixed response in urban centres, but widespread support in the semi-urban and rural hinterland which have been badly hit by the spiraling fuel prices.

The shutdown has been supported by Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (S), RPI (G), Peasant and Workers Party, Left Parties, Swabhimani Shetkari Party, Peoples Republican Party.

(IANS)

A state-wide shutdown called by Kerala’s ruling Left and the Congress-led opposition to protest rising fuel prices, was observed on Monday.

While public vehicles remained off the roads in the state, private vehicles were seen plying in many places, while shops, markets and establishments remained shut.

“This is a protest against the wrong policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has also led to the rupee reaching record lows. Under Modi, the country has reached a low,” Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said while inaugurating his party’s protest in Kochi.

In Kollam, agitated Congress workers protested outside the Head Post office, demanding that it should be closed.

In the state capital, the IT campus at Technopark is functioning and the ISRO units are also working as normal.

There was a complete shutdown in Kasargode, the town that shares a border with Karnataka, as interstate buses kept off the roads.

While the Congress workers are out on the streets, the ruling Left supporters appear to maintain a low profile and have stressed that relief operations in flood-affected areas will go on unaffected.

(IANS)