TThe “Bharat Bandh” called by the Congress against the rising fuel prices evoked a mixed response in Mumbai and other places across Maharashtra on Monday, as the protesters disrupted briefly public transport services and forced closure of shops and business establishments but normal life remained by and large unaffected.
The day began with protesters belonging to various Opposition parties, particularly the Congress and MNS, staging “rail roko” at various suburban and metro railway stations in the metropolis and the neighbouring Thane and Palghar district.
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan and Mumbai party chief Sanjay Nirupam led the charge by staging a noisy protest outside the Andheri station bus depot, later blocked the railway tracks and shouted anti-government slogans.
Following the protests, 100-odd Congress leaders and workers, including Chavan, Nirupam, Naseem Khan, Manikrao Thakre, Baba Siddiqui and Suresh Shetty, were detained by the police.
The police also detained scores of protesters when they staged a “raik roko” at Dadar railway station.
Stone throwing was reported in north-central and north-east Mumbai in the early part of the day, with protesters vandalising at least 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run BEST buses across the metropolis.
However, suburban trains operated normally for most part of the day. Auto-rickshaws and taxis were on the roads. However, thousands of office-goers took advantage of the bandh and chose to stay away from work.
While the shops, hotels and business establishments remained closed in most parts of the metropolis, schools, colleges, banks and offices functioned normally. Essential services had been spared from the bandh. In Mumbai, the MNS activists tried unsuccessfully to waylay to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s motorcade near Siddhivinayak Temple in north-central Mumbai, where he had come for an event.
The protesters were detained by the police personnel deployed there. The MNS activists disrupted train services at D N Road Metro railway station for a brief period. The protesters from the Raj Thackeray-led party vandalised BJP corporator Vinod Mishra’s office at Dindoshi and also deflated tyres of BEST buses at Goregaon in north Mumbai.
Elsewhere in Maharashtra, the MNS activists staged aggressive protests at Thane, Palghar, Pune and Nashik. In Pune, the MNS activists hurled stones at some buses of the Pune Municipal Corporation-run PMPML buses along Kumthekar Road and at Market Yard locality. However, schools, colleges and offices remained open in most parts of the state.
Political parties took out morchs in places like Palghar, Pune, Nashik, Nanded, Parbhani, Kolhapur, Raigad and Ratnagiri.
Apart from the Congress and MNS, the other parties that joined the bandh included the NCP, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (S), RPI (G), Peasant and Workers Party, Left Parties, Swabhimani Shetkari Party and Peoples Republican Party.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena – which had not joined the bandh --- dismissed the shutdown, by sagying that the bandh call did not elicit any response. “The bandh has hardly had any effect on normal life in Maharashtra. Though there was an impact of bandh in north India, the bandh proved to be a flop in the state,” Shiv Sena’s spokesperson Sanjay Raut said.
However, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said that the bandh was a success in the metropolis. “We have proved that independent of Shiv Sena, we can organise a successful bandh in Mumbai,” Nirupam said.