Partial response to shutdown in northeast, barring Assam

GUWAHATI/AGARTALA - The dawn-to-dusk nationwide strike called Monday by the opposition parties against the rising prices of fuel and essential commodities evoked a partial response in the northeastern states, barring Assam where life was badly hit.

Life was badly affected in Assam due to the 12 hour strike which affected road, rail and air services, besides impacting business and trading activities.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including Assam unit president Ranjit Dutta and Left leaders were among hundreds arrested from different parts of the state for blocking rail and road traffic in Assam where train services were badly hit.

“Most markets, shops, private offices, banks and educational institutions remained closed, while attendance in government offices and civil secretariat here was less than normal,” an Assam government official told reporters.

Almost all privately-operated long distance and city buses went off the roads, while the state-run Assam State Transport Corporation buses plied with very few passengers.

“Bandh supporters blocked train tracks and stalled Guwahati-Delhi Rajdhani Express for five hours at Rangiya railway station in western Assam. Manas Express, Rhino Passenger and Rangapara Passenger were also stalled,” a railway official said in Guwahati.

The strike failed to evoke much response in Congress-ruled Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

In Mizoram, the main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) joined hands with the all India opposition parties.

In some districts in Manipur the strike evoked a partial response. Some markets and a large number of shops were closed in eastern and western Manipur.

In Nagaland, the shut down also evoked partial response. The ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), a conglomeration of some local and regional parties, extended its moral support to the nationwide strike .

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.

However, the Left parties organised mass demonstrations across the state.

“Over 115,000 common men and women have been participated in the protest demonstration in more than 20 places in Tripura to oppose the UPA government’s anti-people decisions to raise the fuel prices, cooking gas besides escalating prices of all essential commodities,” CPI-M central committee member Bijon Dhar told reporters here.

The BJP was the main party observing the shutdown in Tripura. However, the stir sponsored by the party, which has no substantial base in the state, evoked a mixed response in urban and semi-urban areas and poor response in rural areas in Tripura.

“Around 150 BJP picketers, including their state president Manoj Kanti Debroy were arrested from different places of Tripura for obstructing in rail services and normal activities. There is no report of untoward incident from anywhere in the state,” police spokesman Nepal Das said.

According to Air India officials in Agartala and Guwahati, Air India operated their flights in the Agartala-Kolkata-Guwahati-Silchar-Aizawl-Imphal routes as usual. “However, the private airlines cancelled their flights in these routes,” an official added.

The central government on June 25 ended government curbs on petroleum pricing and hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas. The price of diesel went up by Rs.2 a litre, kerosene by Rs.3 a litre, cooking gas by Rs.35 per cylinder and petrol by Rs.3.50 a litre.