Modi draws fire over rising fuel prices
OPPOSITION UNITES TO STAGE MAJOR PROTEST MONTHS AHEAD OF GENERAL ELECTIONS
India’s opposition parties for the first time observed a nationwide strike over soaring fuel prices and a declining currency, harnessing public anger over deepening cost pressures just seven months from national elections.
Violence erupted in Bihar, Maharashtra and other states as protesters damaged vehicles and burned tyres, while train and bus services were disrupted and schools and shops were closed in other parts of India.
Rahul Gandhi, president of the main opposition Congress party which called the strike, led the protest march in the capital New Delhi, but the disruption was felt mostly in states ruled by regional parties.
“It has been four years and the people are able to see clearly what the BJP government has done,” Gandhi told a protest gathering, blaming policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Partyled government and criticising his silence on issues including petrol and diesel price rises. “What the country wants to hear, what the youth want to hear, the prime minister does not talk about it. The country is fed up with seeing him.”
Fuel prices have been rising in the fastest-growing oil consuming nation over the past few weeks. Pump prices of petrol and diesel are at record because of the sliding rupee and firming crude oil prices. Petrol is priced at Rs80.73 a litre in New Delhi while diesel costs Rs72.83.
Yesterday’s strike was a show of strength by the Congress party, which is trying to unite opposition parties against Modi ahead of general elections, and could set the stage for the formation of a formal opposition coalition.
The Congress party has been stepping up its offensive against the government, pushing issues including depreciation of the Indian currency against the dollar, alleged improprieties in the purchase of Rafale fighter aircraft and the impact of the 2016 ban on 86 per cent of the country’s cash. Modi has also been facing protests from students, farmers, trade unions and Dalits, once known as ‘untouchables.’
“The BJP strongly believes despite some momentary difficulties, the people are not supporting the strike. And that is unnerving the Congress party,” said Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Normal life was hit in some states yesterday with offices and educational institutes closed and vehicles off the roads during an opposition sponsored ‘Bharat Bandh’ which was largely peaceful, barring some incidents of violence.
A three-year-old girl died in Bihar’s Jehanabad district, which the BJP alleged was due to delay in finding a vehicle to take her to the hospital. Train services were affected in Odisha.
The shutdown, called to protest against rising fuel prices, was called by 21 opposition parties led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. It was kickstarted at Rajghat where Gandhi offered holy water from his Kailash Mansarovar yatra. He then accompanied opposition leaders then marched to Ramlila Maidan from Rajghat.
In states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh life was hit by the shutdown, but Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Mizoram remained largely unaffected.
Rahul Gandhi alleged hatred was being spread and the country being divided under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said it was time for all opposition parties to shed their differences and move forward unitedly “to save” sovereignty and democracy.
The BJP dubbed the bandh as an attempt to spread rumour and confusion among the masses and said people will “puncture the grand alliance balloon” floated by the opposition party.
In New Delhi, offices, schools and colleges in opened at their regular time despite the bandh. Traffic was affected in Daryaganj and around Ramlila Maidan due to the protest.
In Odisha, train services were disrupted in many places as Congress workers blocked railway tracks to enforce the bandh. At least 10 trains were cancelled.
Vehicular movement came to a grinding halt in many places as Congress workers blocked roads. Buses, taxis and autorickshaws stayed off the roads.
In Bhubaneswar, Congress workers staged a road blockade disrupting movement of vehicles on the national highway. Bandh supporters also locked the ticket counter of the Sun Temple.
Shops, markets, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed. Examinations were cancelled by the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT).
In Kerala, the stoppage of work hit normal life. Public and private transport buses and autorickshaws kept off the roads.
The bandh evoked a mixed response in Telangana. The police took scores of workers of the Congress, Left and TDP into custody when they held protests and prevented buses from plying. AICC secretary Srinivasan Krishnan and 40 others were taken into preventive custody in Karimnagar town.
Osmania University postponed pre-PhD examination for tomorrow.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Karnataka. Roads in Bengaluru wore a deserted look as government buses, private taxis and most autorickshaws did not ply. Businesses, shops, malls, some private enterprises remained closed.
58 taken into custody
KSRTC buses kept off the road and city buses also did not ply. In Mangaluru, incidents of stone pelting at hotels and shops, which remained open, were reported. In Jharkhand, 58 Congress activists were taken into police custody for forcibly trying to enforce the bandh.
Almost all schools, colleges and offices were open in West Bengal where examinations were held as schedules.
Bandh supporters protested on railway tracks at Jadavpur station but it was withdrawn after commuters’ protest.
In Tamil Nadu, normal life largely remained unaffected.
The BJP alleged in Bihar’s Jehanabad, a two-year-old girl died while being taken to a hospital and her family blamed the death on the delay in finding a three-wheeler.
Sub-divisional Officer Paritosh Kumar said Pramod Manjhi, a resident of a village in Gaya district, was bringing his daughter to a hospital as she was vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea.