SHIMLA: The principal Left party in Himachal Pradesh, the CPI (M), staged massive protests all over the State on Tuesday against the recent oil price hike by the Union Government. Rallies and demonstrations were held at a number of places including Sundernagar, Jogindernagar, Dharamsala, Darlaghat, Solan, Chamba, Kullu, Bilaspur, Una, Nahan and Shimla, according to Onkar Shad, State unit president of Kisan Sabha.

Traffic was blocked at various places including Shimla in the forenoon. The protesters were forcibly removed by the police. A number of people were seen walking to show their resentment against the oil price rise.

In the evening, hundreds of CPI (M) activists marched on The Mall raising slogans. A number of small Left factions carrying red flags emerged from various corners on The Mall much to the surprise of authorities who were caught napping and had made no arrangements to tackle the situation.

The State CPI (M) office strongly condemned the manhandling of Central Committee member and State party secretary Rakesh Singha by the police.

Traffic blocked

The day-long strike called by the Left parties to protest against price hike in Petrol and diesel today received mixed response in Punjab.

Road and rail traffic were blocked at some places in the State for a few hours, official sources said here.

While the Left leaders claimed that around 10,000 protesting activists of CPI and CPI (M) were rounded up by police in different districts, the officials put the figure at around 300.

Claiming the protest to be successful, Punjab CPI secretary Joginder Dayal told PTI that rail traffic on Bathinda-Delhi mainline and Jalandhar-Pathankot line was disrupted between one to three hours.

The activists of CPI and CPM squatted on rail lines on these sections, he said. Officials said that the protest was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

At several places the activists burnt the effigy of Union Finance Minister. In Rohtak, the BJP workers burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left parties submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner demanding roll back of prices of diesel and petrol, sources said.

In Ludhiana, activists of CPI and CPI-M burnt effigy of Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.

According to officials here, the protestors assembled either in front of DC offices or SDM offices or bus stands at Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Garshankar, Mukerian, Nawanshahar, Sangrur, Moga, Patiala, Amritsar and Bathinda.

The Chandigarh-Nawanshahar road was disrupted by the protestors for about 30 minutes at a chowk in Nawanshahar, the officials said. They said that the activists of Left parties were mostly rounded up from Patiala, Bathinda, Amritsar, Sangrur and Ferozepur districts as a precautionary measure. The activists also blocked Ludhiana-Moga road for about 30 minutes, the officials said.

Effigy burnt

The CPI (M) workers burnt effigy of Union Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar at the busy head post office crossing here to protest the rise in petrol and diesel prices by the Central government.

Rain plays spoilsport

Continuous rains literally poured cold water on the call by Left parties for protests against the hike in petrol and diesel prices in Orissa while the countrywide truckers' strike demanding rollback of the increase evoked lukewarm response.

Trucks were plying at different places including the industrial towns of Angul, Talcher and Paradip, officials said. While conceding that the rains had played spoilsport to their demonstration plans "to some extent'', CPI and CPI(M) sources, however, said that their supporters would be holding demonstrations during the day.

`Chakka jam' enforced

In Bihar, activists tried to sporadically enforce ``chakka jams'' and disrupted rail and road traffic amid tight security arrangements. CPI workers squatted on the railway tracks in Samastipur while some 250 activists were chased away by police in the capital Patna.

Reports from Tripura said public transport services were broadly off the road while in neighbouring Manipur the reports said the strike failed to evoke response. -- PTI & UNI

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