PATNA: The state on Monday witnessed total bandh as part of the one-day Bharat Bandh call given by the BJP-led NDA and Left parties sepa-rately. The day passed off peacefully, except Khagaria where the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the CPI-led bandh enforcers.
Train services were disrupted and around a dozen trains were detained at various stations due to the bandh, as the bandh supporters, including women, either squatted on the railway lines or climbed on to their engines. There was no vehicular traffic on the roads in the cities before noon, while the movement of vehicles on the national as well as state highways and other roads was also minimal.
Trucks remained lined along the roads, since the big and small towns and bazars witnessed bandh enforcers, including women, coming out in batches, shouting slogans against the UPA government for failing to check price rise and also for increasing the prices of petro products. With schools closed, there were no school vehicles on the roads, while the government offices wore a deserted look and banking establishments had negligible transactions. All retail and wholesale business activities, barring the retail medicine shops, had come to a standstill, and shutters of the shops, too, were down.
In Patna, the bandh enforcers were on the road at around 7.30 am. By around 9 am, members of Mahila Brigade, all armed with lathis and some even with swords, disrupted the train services at Patna Junction. With autos and rickshaws out of the roads, the pedestrians had a harrowing day. The batches of political parties — the BJP, JD(U), CPI, CPM, SUCI, Foward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party — led by their leaders started crowding around Patna’s busiest hub — Dak Bungalow crossings — by 10 am. Soon, they put old tyres to fire on the busy Bailey Road from which black tongues of smokes billowed.
By around 1 pm, the police ‘arrested’ 2,645 people all over the state, and at around 4.30 pm, their number swelled to 8,519, said state DGP Neelmani. In Patna, the prominent among those ‘arrested’ at the Dak Bungalow crossings were BJP national general secretary and party’s chief spokesman Ravishankar Prasad and its state chief, Dr C P Thakur. The police picked up JD(U) national spokesman Shivanand Tiwary and its Rajya Sabha member, Upendra Kushwaha, as well as its general secretary, Shyam Ra-jak. The police also arrested CPI state chief Badri Narayan Lal, among others.
In fact, with tyres aflame at the Dak Bungalow crossings, the police applying restraint and the slogan shouting people rending the air with their party flags fluttering, the spot looked like a little less than a war zone. Both the BJP and JD(U) supporters also indulged in slogan shouting against each other over the issue of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.
CM Nitish Kumar said the Centre, seeing the spontaneous protests of people, should rollback the price rise of petro products. He added that the popular sentiments should be appreciated and general price rise should also be checked.
Flights not affected: There was no impact of bandh at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, as all the flights both landed and departed on scheduled time expect the Jet Airways flight from Patna to Kolkata. The passengers too reached the airport on time to board their respective flights, said AAI sources here.
Autos keep off road: Three-wheelers, said to be the lifeline of the city, did not ply in the entire city causing hardship to daily commuters, as it is the only mode of transport for the middle income group and covers almost every corner of the city. Most of the auto stands, including Kurji Mor, Pataliputra Colony, Rajapur bridge, Gandhi Maidan, Patna Junction, GPO roundabout, Chitkohra flyover, Phulwarisharif, Polytechnique Mor, Bor-ing Road roundabout, Khagaul Road, RPS More and City Chowk, wore a deserted look throughout the day.