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)

Rail and road traffic was hit across Bihar on Monday due to a nationwide shutdown called by the Congress against the hike in fuel prices.

The shutdown is being supported by the opposition Rashtryia Janata Dal (RJD), Left Parties and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM).

Hundreds of Congress and other opposition parties leaders and workers took to the streets since early Monday in different parts of Bihar.

Over a dozen long route trains were halted at Patna, Gaya, Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur railway stations.

At several places, the activists were seen burning tyres on roads to protest.

They also raised slogans against the Central government and Prime Minister Narendar Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Additional security have been deployed all across the state to maintain law and order.

However, no untoward incident was reported anywhere.

The ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by the Congress and other organisations on September 10, is likely to evoke good response in Karnataka where the party is a coalition partner with Janata Dal (S).

Various organisations including AITUC and other left party organisations like CITU have called for the shut off agitation and JD(S) is most likely to extend its support, sources said here on Saturday.

The agitation is against high taxes slapped by the Centre and most state governments that had followed suit by charging heavy duties on motor fuel that resulted in petrol prices spiraling to Rs 82 per liter in recent weeks and diesel price over Rs 72 in Karnataka.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had however indicated that the Karnataka government would explore possibilities of bringing down the state taxes on the motor spirit, while speaking at a function in Dakshina Kannada on Friday, saying that if the Centre did not respond to the common people’s call, his government will respond positively.

The bandh will be supported by state public sector bus operator KSRTC employees besides Ola and Uber drivers and owners have also extended their support and the taxi service will be seriously hit on Monday.

KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao who led a motorcycle rally against the union government for not reducing the Petrol and Diesel prices today said that Congress will extend its support to the agitation demanding that the BJP government at the Centre that had increased the taxes by 118 per cent since 2014 and rates of diesel by whopping 424 per cent should be brought down.

”We from Congress will launch a major protest against the union government’s apathy.

The need of the hour is for the country to bring down the prices of the petroleum products which will, otherwise, affect the economy badly,” he said.

Central taxes on petrol amounts to Rs 20.72 and state tax at Rs 17.03 per litre in Karnataka, while on diesel costs the consumer Rs 18.67 and Rs 10.59, respectively, according to sources.

(PTI)

Many places in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on Thursday were affected by the Bharat Bandh called to protest against the changes made in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Not just rail and road traffic, markets and schools were closed. Even rural hinterland and smaller towns joined the protest called by upper caste communities, including the Akhil Bhartiya Vaishya Samaj and dozens of other groups.

The agitators blocked trains and put up road blocks on national and state highways. Schools declared a holiday to ensure the safety of students.

In Mathura and Vrindavan, the bandh was total as protesters took out marches and blocked main roads. In Firozabad, even Muslim shopkeepers joined the shutdown.

A protestor said: “Our anger is directed towards the recent changes in the Act which empowers the police to arrest anyone without investigations. We are not opposed to persons belonging to the SC/ST.”

The bandh has placed political parties in a dilemma. Officially the Congress, Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party have remained neutral, but their members are openly supporting the shutdown.

The massive turnout for a series of marches, to protest the amendment to the Act, in many districts and tehsils over the last few days have sent panic signals to the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party.

Organisations representing the ‘so-called’ upper castes supported by several fronts of OBCs, have openly challenged the BJP leadership and demanded immediate withdrawal of the amendment or face the music during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Sumant Gupta, national chief of the Vaishya Ekta Parishad, an umbrella front of various trading communities, said the protesters would march to Delhi on October 2, to demand scrapping of the amendment.

Clashes and violence have been reported from various parts of Uttar Pradesh. There was a scuffle in the Agra market where supporters of the SC/ST Act protested against efforts to shut down shops.

Police chased the mob and used tear gas shells to quell the warring groups as they pelted stones at each other and vandalised property.

Protestors stopped the Agra-Etawah passenger train by squatting on the rail tracks in Pinahat. They threw stones on the vehicle of a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) on the Yamuna Expressway.

Prohibitory orders have been issued in many districts of the state.

Major protests have been reported from Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The agitators set ablaze some kiosks and stalled traffic at the Hyderabad Gate of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

Two trains were stopped in Mainpuri district. Protests were also reported from Dibiyapur in Aurraiya, Aligarh, Hathras, Etah, Kasganj.

Lawyers have also extended their support to the Bharat Bandh. There was, however, not much disturbances in Lucknow and Kanpur.

In the Madhya Pradesh capital, petrol pumps were closed as security was heightened in 35 areas there, police said.

The administration imposed Section 144 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) in Chhatarpur, Shivpuri, Bhind, Ashoknagar, Guna, Gwalior and Katni, the police said.

There were huge protests in Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home district Sehore. In Vidisha, people wore black T-shirts saying “Hum hai Mai ka Lal” in response to Chouhan who had said no one can end reservation.

Indore, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior and Sagar, too witnessed huge protests.

Organisations that have joined the protest include Akhil Bhartiya Kshtriya Mahasabha, Rashtriya Brahmin Mahasabha, Garib Sena, Karn Rajpoot Samaj, Rajputana Youth Brigade, Anarakshit Samaj Party, and dozens of other groups.

Trains were forcibly halted, railway tracks, national and state highways blocked in Bihar as upper caste communities on Thursday tried to impose a shutdown called to protest against the SC/ST Act, police said.

Hundreds of people from the upper caste communities took to streets across the state early in the day to protest against the The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protesters burned tyres, blocked roads and rail traffic in Patna, Gaya, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Nalanda, Muzaffarpur, Madhubni, Bhojpur, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura ,Nawada and Bhagalour districts. Traffic remained disrupted for hours.

They also raised slogans against the central government and Prime Minister Narendar Modi and demanded reservation for the poor among the upper castes in jobs and educational institutions.

The protest was called by over two dozen groups including the Sawarn Sena and the Bhumihar-Brahmin Ekta Manch on the social media.

Security has been tightened in the state with additional forces deployed at sensitive places.

(IANS)

One person died and over 80 were hospitalised as a massive protest rally held by the opposition ended in the Sri Lankan capital on Thursday, media reported.

According the Colombo National Hospital, the one death was due to cardiac arrest, Xinhua news agency reported.

While eight were hospitalised from food poisoning, eight others had sustained minor injuries and over 70 were hospitalised due to excessive alcohol consumption.

Sri Lanka’s Joint Opposition held the rally on Wednesday to protest against the rising cost of living, the government’s economic policies and call for a snap parliamentary poll.

The protest was organised by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eldest son and parliamentarian, Namal Rajapaksa. The former president and his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa also participated in the rally.

Joint Opposition legislators said thousands had attended the rally but an exact figure could not be confirmed.

The protest which started on Wednesday afternoon, ended early on Thursday.

(IANS)

The Congress on Monday, September 3, went head to head with the BJP in the urban local body (ULB) elections in Karnataka but was set to gain control of a majority of the ULBs with a post-poll tie-up with ruling coalition partner, JD(S).

According to the state election commission, the Congress has secured 966 seats and the BJP has 910 seats in the elections held on Saturday. The JD(S) has won 373 seats and the others the rest of the seats. Despite being partners in the coalition government at the state, the Congress and the JD(S) contested the polls separately but, they have already declared that they would tie up after the ULB elections. Combined, the Congress and the JD(S) have won 1,339 seats, beating the BJP by a clear margin. The combined results come as a sigh of relief to the Congress and the JD(S) coalition government at the state as the ULB polls were considered as a crucial test for the coalition government. This could very well be the index for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Results for 2,628 seats out of 2,709 have been declared so far. The BJP was in the lead in Bagalkote, Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere and Udupi districts, while the Congress moved ahead in the Ballari, Bidar, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Mysuru, Raichur, Uttara Kannada, and Yadgir districts and the JD(S) lead in its usual strongholds, including Hassan, Mandya and Tumakuru.

“We the party to perform better than the present results. The results of this election are not an indication of any future elections, particularly the Lok Sabha elections… where the BJP is going to win with a thumping majority,” said BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa.

Meanwhile, endorsing BSY’s views, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge too, said that these elections are based on minor issues and local candidates and hence, don’t hold much significance.

The elections were held for 3 city corporations, 29 city municipal councils, 52 town municipal councils and 20 town panchayats, the polling took place across 2,633 wards of the state — spread over 29 city municipalities, 53 town municipalities and 23 town panchayats and in 135 wards of three city corporations. Polls to Kodagu urban local bodies were withheld due to the recent deluge in the district. A record average of 67.5 per cent voter turnout was registered.

Victory celebrations turn ugly

As many as eight people were injured in an acid attack on Monday during a victory procession of Congress candidate Inayathullah Khan in Tumakur. The injured were immediately rushed to a hospital where they were given treatment. It is yet unclear who attacked the rally, however, Tumakur SP Divya Gopinath has said that the substance used in the attack was a low intensity acid and it comes across that someone within the crowd sprayed it, following which a few felt some sort of discomfort. The doctors treating the victims have said that it could be a low intensity acid like the one used to clean bathrooms. All the eight have suffered minor injuries. Police sources said that no complaint has been lodged so far.

(PTI)

Karnataka’s ruling coalition partner the Congress won majority of the seats across 10 of 22 districts during vote count for 105 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on Monday, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.

In the civic body polls held on August 31, the Congress has won 982 seats out of the total 2,662 seats, with a majority in 10 districts including Ballari, Bidar, Gadag, Mysuru, Uttara Kannada and Raichur, the SEC said in its website.

On the other hand, the Congress’ leading ally in the state government, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), trailed behind winning 375 seats and a majority in its strongholds of Hassan, Mandya and Tumakuru districts.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 929 seats, with majority in seven districts including the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada.

Independents won 329 seats across the 22 districts, while other fringe parties and regional outfits won another 34.

The civic election verdict shows the BJP performed well in its traditional bastions of coastal districts, while the Congress retained its position in its strongholds of northern districts.

The result in Vijayapura district in the northern part of the state threw a hung verdict, with both Congress and BJP winning eight seats each of the total 23 seats, while JD-S won two seats and Independents five.

In the event of no party getting majority on its own in the election, the Congress and the JD-S have decided to forge a post-poll alliance to keep the BJP out of power, similar to May 12 state Assembly election which threw up a hung verdict, a JD-S official told IANS earlier.

Polling took place last Friday across 22 districts of the state spread over 29 city municipalities, 53 town municipalities, 23 town panchayats and 135 wards of three city corporations — Mysuru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru.

A record average of 67.5 per cent voter turnout was registered across the state for the civic polls.

The polling in 45 seats of Kodagu district’s civic bodies has been postponed due to recent heavy rains and flooding in the region.

In the 2013 ULB elections held in 4,976 seats, the Congress had won 1,960 seats, while BJP and JD-S had won 905 seats each, and Independents bagged the remaining 1,206 seats.

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