Nationwide stir: Left keeps out in Tripura

AGARTALA - The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in Tripura did not observe a strike Monday against rising fuel prices, saying it had already done so June 28.

“We are not supporting or opposing Monday’s strike as the Left parties have protested against the fuel prices hike through a 12-hours strike June 28,” CPI-M central committee member Bijon Dhar told reporters here.

Dhar, also the CPI-M’s Tripura state committee secretary, said: “Considering people’s misery and various other troubles, we would not observe the strike again on the same issue within a week.”

Elsewhere in India, the Left parties joined the shutdown also backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In Left-ruled Kerala, the response to the strike was complete while normal life was hit hard in West Bengal.

However, the ruling Left parties organised demonstration across Tripura Monday.

The BJP, which has no substantial base in the state, is the main party observing the 12-hours shutdown, which evoked a mixed response in urban as well as semi-urban areas but poor response in rural areas of Tripura.

According to an Air India official, the airline operated their flights on the Agartala-Kolkata-Guwahati-Silchar routes as usual. “But private airlines cancelled their flights,” the official added.

— Indo-Asian News Service