Bharat Bandh evokes poor response in Haryana
CHANDIGARH: The nationwide call of Opposition-sponsored ‘Bharat Bandh’ over the rising fuel prices evoked a poor response in Haryana.
There was no report of any untoward incident in the state.
Congress workers held demonstrations and took out protest marches at several places as part of the Bharat Bandh call. They also burnt effigies of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the morning, shopkeepers and traders at some places in the state kept the shutters down.
Adequate security arrangements were made by the police to prevent any untoward incidents.
Congress workers took out protest marches and held demonstrations at Ambala, Panchkula, Rohtak and Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Kaithal, Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad.
Haryana Congress MLAs, led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, took out a protest march in Chandigarh to protest against the hike in fuel prices.
“Rising fuel prices has hit ordinary man. It has also come as a blow to farmers who depend upon diesel for farming activities,” he said.
In the northern districts of the state, there was no visible impact in the markets of cities and small towns, despite the repeated appeals and protests by Congress workers.
Some shopkeepers agreed to shut their shops but they opened the shops after the protesters left. The markets in small towns remained opened as usual and some shopkeepers were seen objecting to the repeated bandh calls by political parties.
“There is a Bharat Bandh call on every third day by the political parties and the shopkeepers are being targeted by these political parties. What will we earn if we will follow their requests and shut our shop every day,” said Jitender Kumar, owner of a general store in Nilokheri of Karnal district.
In Karnal, workers of Communist Party of India also extended support to the protest and burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a protest march.
In Ambala city, markets remained opened while shops in the Sadar zone were closed.
Addressing the workers near Ambala- Jagadhri road, senior Congress Nirmal Singh said the common man has been hit hard due to unprecedented rise in the diesel and petrol prices.
(With inputs from PTI)