The opposition on September 20, 2012 called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ while demanding a rollback in hiked prices of diesel. The protest is also on the issue of the cap subsidised cooking gas cylinders and to allow the foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
But the Bandh has evoked mixed responses in the country. Apart from the NDA and the Left the Bandh on Thursday shutdown is supported by the Samajwadi party, the TDP, the BJD and many others.
In the state of Tamil Nadu, the DMK which is an ally of the UPA is also supporting the bandh. In the national capital the response of the Bandh has evoked negligible response. In Delhi most of the schools and colleges are open.
But the shops in many of the areas in Delhi are shut down. Reports have said that the trains at several places have been stopped by the protestors but there are no reports of major traffic disruption. On Thursday morning the Samajwadi Party workers had blocked the railways traffic at Allahabad Railway station while the BJP Yuva Manch had stopped the trains at Patna Junction. The Government Railways Police had to intervene at many places to facilitate the movement of trains and had even arrested many of the supporters at Dhanbad, Parasnath and Koderma stations.
