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)

A day-long Bharat Bandh or nationwide shutdown called by the Congress and Left parties to protest rising fuel prices evoked partial response in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

Bus services were affected since early morning in both the Telugu states. Many private educational institutions also remained closed.

Activists of the Congress and the Left parties launched a sit-in at the depots of state road transport corporations to prevent buses from plying on the roads.

Leaders of Congress, Left parties, Jana Sena and trade unions affiliated to them were arrested in Hyderabad and other towns in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries Saleem Ahmed and Srinivasan Krishnan led the protests in Mahabubnagar and Karimnagar.

Ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana is not supporting the shutdown call.

Though Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is also not officially supporting the shutdown, its activists in both the states joined the protests against rise in prices of petrol and diesel.

Raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the protestors took to streets, staging road blockades and organising rallies.

(IANS)

Normal life was unaffected in Tamil Nadu on Monday due to a nationwide strike called by the Congress and supported by other opposition parties to protest against the rise in oil prices.

Schools, colleges, offices — private, public and government — functioned as usual and public transport plied on the roads but in lesser numbers.

Suburban trains also operated as usual.

Shops remained closed in few places in the state including Nagercoil, Mannargudi, Tiruvarur, as per reports reaching here.

However, bus services to neighbouring Karnataka and Kerala states were affected. The buses operated only upto the Tamil Nadu border as the strike got good response in those two states.

(IANS)