Bharat Bandh to protest against petrol price hike hits normal life in Manipur

Imphal, May 31: A united opposition on Thursday enforced Bharat Bandh to protest against petrol price hike. Bharat bandh affected normal life in Manipur . All offices remained open but turnout was very low as on normal days. . Schools and colleges were closed on account of a local holiday. Transporters ceased their service. Market places were almost deserted as total shutdown to support the bandh.

Shops in Imphal market places being shutdown during bandh.

Several states especially those ruled by the NDA witnessed total shutdown with offices closed, markets wearing a deserted look along with major disruptions in train and road traffic. The Delhi-Howrah train route was the worst hit. Violence was also reported from some area although there have been no reports of any major clash or casualties.

However, the overall effect of the bandh was partial with UPA states not witnessing any major impact with the exception of West Bengal.
As mark of the protest, NDA leaders including Sharad Yadav and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi courted arrest in Saharsa and New Delhi respectively. Senior Left leaders AB Bardhan, D Raja and Prakash Karat were also detained.
In Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held rallies while the Left leaders protested in the busy ITO area.
Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal saw some acts of vandalism with protesters torching buses and pelting stones to enforce the bandh.
Three BMTC buses were burnt and 11 others damaged in Bangalore, forcing authorities to suspend operations temporarily. Karnataka BJP chief KS Eshwarappa and other party leaders were detained in Bangalore.
Karnataka Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda and Law Minister Suresh Kumar reached their offices on bicycles accompanied by security personnel to protest against the steep hike in petrol price.
Several BJP leaders in Jaipur too protested in a similar way against the petrol price hike.
Stones were pelted at BEST buses in the Shiv Sena's strongholds Worli, Dadar, Parel and Mulund in Mumbai. Some buses were attacked in Pune, Nashik and Thane as well. BJP workers also tried to stop Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's convoy.
In West Bengal, a bus was set on fire in Howrah and BJP workers pelted stones at vehicles in Barasat. However, there were no reports of any passenger getting injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, in Punjab, BJP protesters stopped the Himalayan Queen train in Baltana and the Chandigarh-bound Delhi Shatabdi was also halted near Ambala. Ludhiana and Amritsar also witnessed a complete shutdown with all shops closed and police deployed.
The BJP and the Haryana Janhit Congress also launched protests in several parts of Haryana.
The situation was similar in the NDA-ruled state of Bihar where BJP workers clashed with the police. Ruling party workers also stalled rail and road traffic. The Durg Express, the Sampoorna Kranti Express, the Jan Shatabdi, the Palamau Express and the Patna-Gaya passenger train among others were stopped.