Train traffic disrupted, shops closed in Bihar (Lead)
May 31st, 2012 - 2:16 pm ICT by IANS
Patna, May 31 (IANS) The shutdown called by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents and Left parties in Bihar against the hike in petrol prices Thursday impacted life across the state with sporadic violence reported from some areas, police said.
Several trains were halted and vehicular movement was severely hit across the state.
“Protestors blocked railway tracks in Patna, Gaya, Darbhanga, Hajipur and Bhagalpur, disrupting train services. The strikers have been forcibly stopping trains at various railway stations since morning,” a railway official said.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded at scores of railway stations, bus stations and taxi stands since early Thursday.
Police said that more than 1,000 workers and leaders of the NDA and Left parties have been arrested since the shutdown came into effect.
Senior Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav was arrested in Saharsa district along with JD-U MP from Khagaria parliamentary constituency Dinesh Chandra Yadav, while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shahnawaz Hussain was arrested in Bhagalpur where he was leading protestors.
According to police, over a dozen legislators of the JD-U and BJP have been arrested.
BJP state president C.P. Thakur claimed that the response to the shutdown was near total in the state. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) leader Kunal said that people were supporting the shutdown as they were fed up with hike in fuel prices.
Hundreds of workers of the JD-U and the BJP forced shops and commercial establishments to close down for the day in the state.
Protestors damaged a number of vehicles in state capital Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga to enforce the shutdown, a police official said.
A group of ruling NDA activists also ransacked the Mairwa railway station in Siwan district.
At Patna’s busy Dak Bungalow crossing, JD-U and CPI-ML workers clashed over burning of an effigy of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Bihar’s main Opposition, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and its alliance partner Lok Janshakti Party, did not join the shutdown.
- Train traffic disrupted, shops closed in Bihar - May 31, 2012
- Shutdown hits trains and road traffic in Bihar - Sep 20, 2012
- Shutdown near total in Bihar (Lead) - Sep 20, 2012
- Strike evokes near total response in Bihar (Second Lead) - Jul 05, 2010
- Rail, road services hit in Bihar amid shutdown (Lead) - Jul 05, 2010
- CPI-ML's anti-corruption strike affects passengers - Aug 27, 2011
- Trains stopped as shutdown begins in Bihar - Jul 05, 2010
- Mixed response to retailers' strike in Bihar - Dec 01, 2011
- Strike disrupts normal life in Bihar - May 10, 2012
- Trains stopped in Bihar to enforce shutdown - Jul 10, 2010
- Strike evokes a near total response in Bihar (Second Lead) - Jul 10, 2010
- Protests continue in Bihar against power crisis - Mar 28, 2011
- Mixed response to anti-government protest (Afternoon Lead) - Sep 20, 2012
- Power shortage sparks protests in Bihar - Apr 28, 2011
- BJP leader walks over to JD-U in Bihar - Jul 03, 2012
Tags: bharatiya janata party, c p thakur, commercial establishments, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, kunal, left parties, marxist leninist, muzaffarpur, national democratic alliance, parliamentary constituency, railway official, railway station, railway stations, shahnawaz, sharad yadav, sporadic violence, stopping trains, taxi stands, train traffic