‘Bharat Bandh’ evokes good response barring in a few states

The general strike called by the trade unions against the “anti-people policies” of the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday elicited good response across the country barring a few states. The strike was total in Kerala, the only state ruled by the Left.

In the national capital, thousands protested against the Centre and extended their support to the all-India shutdown by trade unions. Gathered at the Shaheed Park, the members then walked towards the ITO intersection and blocked a section of Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.

Holding red trade union flags and braving the winter drizzle, the protesters shouted slogans "Stop attacking students", "Stop attacking universities", "India belongs to us", "Stop dividing us", and "NRC, CAA, NPR will not be allowed".

They extended support to the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and anti-National Register of Citizens (NRC) protests as also to protesting students, saying these issues are affecting all Indians, including labour.

The demonstration was called to support the all-India general strike called by the trade unions.

The shutdown evoked good response in Punjab as normal life was disrupted, but in Chandigarh and neighbouring Haryana, it was mixed. Rail traffic in Amritsar and Ludhiana cities was badly hit for several hours as farmers and members of labour organisations squatted on railway lines.

There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the states.

The activists of several farmer associations were seen asking traders at several places in the Congress-ruled Punjab to keep their shops and business establishments closed to mark the pan-India protest.

Reports of partial shutdown of shops and other establishments were received from Punjab's Patiala, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and other places.

With some state-run roadways unions joining the strike, buses were off the roads in Punjab.

However, in neighbouring BJP-ruled Haryana, the impact of shutdown was mixed. A faction of Haryana Roadways joined the strike, barring a few places including Sirsa.

In West Bengal, the bandh was marked by incidents of violence and arson, blocking of railway tracks and roads by protestors trying to enforce the shutdown, officials said.

The protesters blocked a major road at Sujapur in Malda district, torched several vehicles including a police van, ransacked government buses and set fire to tyres. When police tried to control the situation, they hurled stones and crude bombs.

This led the police to baton-charged the mob, burst teargas shells and fire rubber bullets, they said. Railway tracks and roads were blocked in various parts of the state affecting normal life.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had opposed the strike call, blamed the central trade unions, the Left Front and the Congress for the violence.

Besides Malda, violence and arson was reported in other districts of the state.

At least 175 local trains were cancelled in the busy Sealdah and Howrah divisions of Eastern Railway owing to the blockades.

In Kolkata, government buses plied normally but the number of private buses was fewer. Metro services were normal and auto-rickshaws and taxis were also seen on the roads.

Heavy police deployment was seen in several areas and important crossings, including in Tollygunge, Behala, Esplanade, Park Circus and Shyambazar.

The strike has been called by trade unions INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC, along with various sectoral independent federations and associations.

The strike evoked partial response in northeastern states. Flights operated normally to and from northeastern states and the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) also operated their trains in all states of the region.

No major untoward incident was reported from any of the seven northeastern states including the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Assam and Tripura.

In Assam, normal life was partially hit in most parts of the state as a large number of vehicles went off the roads and most markets were shut. Though medicine shops were open but a large number of commercial shops and shopping malls were shut in many places.

Most educational institutions, especially schools, remained closed. Maximum bank branches and financial institutions remained shut. But most government offices functioned almost normally.

The Assam government had on Tuesday issued an order to open all government offices. It also mentioned that pay cut and other actions may be resorted to under the prescribed rule.

In Tripura, the normal life was affected due to the 24-hours shut down.

Most markets, shops and business establishments were closed in the state and most private and passenger vehicles remained off the roads. But many government offices functioned almost normally and schools and other educational institutions also remained open, though with very less attendance.

Most banks and financial institutions remained shut.

The strike evoked little response in other northeastern states -- Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

The nationwide strike remained total in Kerala with even a houseboat carrying a Nobel laureate being blocked for some time while it was largely business as usual in other southern states.

Normal life came to a standstill in Left-ruled Kerala where shops, malls and even small kiosks remained shut, roads wore a deserted look as public transport services kept away.

The strike comes a day ahead of the Global Investors Meet meet in Kochi to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday.

In an embarrassment to the state government, a houseboat carrying Nobel laureate Michael Levitt, who was here as a state guest, was blocked for some time while he was cruising in the Alappuzha backwaters by protesting trade union activists.

Levitt, who received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was in Alappuzha with his wife and was stopped by the protesters near Kainakary.

Shops, malls, hotels and other commercial establishments were also shut across the state and private and Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses, autorickshaws and taxis stayed away from the roads.

Railway sources said train services were unaffected by the strike and there were no protests at railway stations.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers also did not attend office.

Banking operations also took a hit as most PSU bank branches remained shut.

In Tamil Nadu, the strike made little impact as bus and railway services were not affected. While shops and commercial establishments remained open, banking services were partially affected. Traffic came to a halt at the arterial Anna Salai where demonstrations were held.

In Karnataka too, the strike did not affect normal life. While government buses including the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) were plying as usual, train services remained unaffected.

In Andhra Pradesh, leaders of the Congress, CPI and CPI (M) were taken into custody as they staged a sit-in outside the RTC bus station in Vijayawada.

Normal life was affected in the Congress-ruled Puducherry as fleet operators kept buses off the roads responding to the strike call.

(With Agencies’ Inputs)