Other States - Madhya Pradesh   

BJP bandh against inflation evokes mixed response

BHOPAL: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s nationwide general strike in protest against rising prices evoked a mixed response in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh on Friday.

While the public transport system was unaffected, most commercial establishments and shops remained closed across major cities and towns in the State.

There was normal attendance in Government offices and essential services were unaffected.

In the State capital, the strike was total in the busy shopping district of Maharana Pratap Nagar, New Market and Chowk area. Late in the afternoon, many shopkeepers began raising their shutters.

According to available reports, there was some disturbance in Gwalior, where a textile showroom was allegedly attacked by some BJP activists when the showroom workers were busy cleaning the establishment.

Staff Correspondent reports from Shimla:

There was a partial response in Himachal Pradesh to the bandh call as a majority of the shopkeepers in urban areas preferred to down their shutters in the forenoon but did brisk business afterwards since the hill State is in the midst of the peak tourist season. The local Beopar Mandal joined the strike against price rise and forced its members in Shimla to go for a half-day bandh.

The suburban markets and local transport functioned as usual and no educational institutions were disturbed anywhere in the State.

The large number of tourists who have descended on this hill station suffered some inconvenience in the morning when they found the most food joints and restaurants shut till the afternoon.

Many shop owners on The Mall were upset over the forced closure.

State BJP president Jai Ram Thakur on the other hand claimed the bandh was near total and went without any mishap anywhere. He told a press conference that the impact was

felt even in the remotest corners of the hill State like Rohru, Thunag and Jhanjheli.

Staff Correspondent adds from Dehra Dun:

The bandh evoked a near total response in Uttarakhand with most urban shopping centres and educational institutions remaining closed on Friday.

The bandh was peaceful barring some violence between BJP workers and vegetable vendors at the Mangal Padav sabzi mandi in Haldwani. A few persons were injured in stone-throwing by both groups and heavy police had been deployed in the area to maintain peace, reports reaching here said.

The call had no effect in Naini Tal and some other tourist resorts. The district administration had closed educational institutions for the day in places like Dehra Dun and Rudrapur.

Groups of BJP workers forced closure of some educational institutions that were open in the Kumaon region.

PTI adds from Jaipur:

The bandh evoked a mixed response in Rajasthan with the shutdown being mostly peaceful across the State. Shops remained closed and normal life was affected in some districts like Ajmer, Kota, Bhilwara and Alwar, whereas the response was lukewarm or poor in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Udaipur and Jaislamer where commercial activities went on routinely.

In Ajmer, the main market remained totally closed and very few vehicles plied on the road. Shops and business establishments remained closed in the Pink city in response to the bandh. Very few vehicles were on the road and the local bus service was hit.

However, schools, colleges, hospitals and other essential services were kept out of the purview of the bandh.

State BJP Secretary Srikisehn Songara claimed the bandh was a total success with the business community shutting their establishments to protest the rising price of essential commodities.

No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere, official sources said.

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