The dawn to dusk all-India strike, the first such challenge for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, called separately by the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cost about Rs.10,000 crore, said the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).
Buoyed by the strike's success, both the Left and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) vowed that this was not the end.
Describing the nationwide shutdown as an "unprecedented success", the Left threatened to intensify its protests inside and outside parliament if the government did not roll back the hike.
"The unity achieved on the street is the real unity... The fight against the government will continue," said a triumphant Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav at press conference with his BJP counterpart Nitin Gadkari.
With the exception of a few states, life was impacted in most parts of India with trucks and buses off the roads, educational establishments and businesses closed. Malls, shopping complexes and government and private offices also stayed shut.
The strike, sponsored by both ends of the political spectrum, the Left and the BJP, was peaceful in many places. But there was sporadic violence too, with 200 buses burnt in Maharashtra.
Opposition leaders, including BJP's Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajnath Singh, joined their workers in courting arrest in several places. Left leaders Brinda Karat and D. Raja also did the same in New Delhi.
The shutdown was total in states ruled by the NDA parties and the Left.
In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, for instance, life ground to a virtual halt as party workers tried to enforce the strike. Ditto with Bihar, ruled by the Janata Dal-United.
The situation was similar in West Bengal and Kerala, ruled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), where normal life came to a virtual standstill.
The response was tepid in Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana.
In Congress-ruled Delhi, however, opposition workers forced the strike on buses and shops during the protests following the central government's move to end curbs on petroleum pricing and hike fuel costs in order to tame the huge fiscal deficit.
The decision increased the price of diesel by Rs.2 a litre, kerosene by Rs.3 a litre, petrol by Rs.3.50 a litre, and cooking gas by Rs.35 per cylinder.
Rail operations in the country, especially in the east, were severely affected with 73 trains cancelled and 192 disrupted.
For passengers who chose to fly to their destinations, it was not much easier with at least 96 flights being cancelled, in many cases because passengers just couldn't make it to the airport.
In Mumbai, the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), one of the busiest, wore a near-deserted look as taxis and autorickshaws remained off the roads.
If the country's financial capital was hit, so was the national capital, also ruled by the Congress where opposition leaders courted arrest at various places and activists forced shopkeepers to down shutters and deflated tyres of buses.
Huge traffic snarls, blockades and protests caused chaos even though most major markets were closed as were schools and colleges.
Said Kanika Sharma, a frustrated banker who had a tough time getting to work: "It was chaotic. I got an autorickshaw after a long wait and had to pay double the fare to convince the driver to drop me at my office."
Her frustration found echo in the southern city of Hyderabad.
"Bandhs will not help people. It only adds to the problems. The government is not going to roll back the hike, so why should opposition parties call for a strike and inconvenience people?" asked medical technician K. Rama Rao.
CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, however, felt that "the momentum of this strike" had to be carried forward.
Though Left leaders said their protest was separate from the NDA's, the sentiment was the same.
"We will keep fighting. It is the people's struggle and it is the people who ultimately triumph," agreed Gadkari.
The ruling Congress labelled the strike as against public interest.
"It is actually an anti-public interest step masquerading as public interest activity," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Sanghvi said, and he questioned the Left and BJP's strategy.
Left, NDA engaging in sensationalism: Cong
PTI | New Delhi: Dubbing the 'Bharat Bandh' as "complete flop", Congress today accused both Left parties and NDA of engaging in "sensationalism" over the issue of fuel price hike.
"Except for the state-sponsored initiatives in certain states where they are in power, there has been a complete flop, complete negative reaction against the bandh," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.
He said the Left and NDA are engaging in "sensationalism" and causing inconvenience to the same 'Aam Aadmi' (common man) in whose name they have given the bandh call.
Singhvi accused BJP of practicing "double standard" in speaking with a "forked tongue" on the issue and reminded that prices of petroleum products were increased many times during NDA rule.
He said government's recent decision to increase the fuel prices was a "bold" one to lessen the burden of indirect taxes on the common man.
"Nothing but sensationalism and creating noise by the so-called bandh is the opposition agenda," Singhvi said.
He asked Left parties whether they want to replicate the "same path of lawlessness by initiating the state-sponsored bandh as was witnessed in West Bengal and Kerala".
Singhvi also had a dig at NDA and Left joining on the issue, saying if both of them feel this was right, Congress can always congratulate them as taken adequate security measures to ensure law and order during the protest.as taken adequate security measures to ensure law and order during the protest. "Policemen are on streets to ensure that no untoward incident takes place," the official said.
Airport officials said flight operations were not affected by the bandh. Delhi Metro officials claimed the services were not hit by the protests though BJP claimed they blocked the services at the Rajiv Chowk and Karol Bagh Metro stations.
Protests were also witnessed at the Inter-State Bus Terminal in east Delhi's Anand Vihar where BJP workers blocked the entrance of the facility.
Police said traffic obstructions due to protests were reported from Lado Sarai, Mahaveer Murty towards Gurgoan, Devli Mode, MB Road, Sai Baba Chowk, Rohini and Janakpuri.
Vehicular movement was also affected at Nizamudin-Ring Road T point, Tigri Khanpur, Apsara Border, Sindhu Border, Burari Chowk, Khajuri Chowk, Prashant Vihar and Paschim Vihar due to the protest.
Police said personnel have been deployed across the city to manage the traffic. The bandh had little effect on the operations of the Indira Gandhi International airport here though some flights to Mumbai, where the protest disrupted normal life, were cancelled.
"Most of the arriving and departing flights were on schedule. No services have been disrupted though some flights to Mumbai have been cancelled," an airport official said.
Eighty-four flight services to and from Mumbai were cancelled considering the low passenger load due to the strike, the official said.as taken adequate security measures to ensure law and order during the protest. "Policemen are on streets to ensure that no untoward incident takes place," the official said.
Airport officials said flight operations were not affected by the bandh. Delhi Metro officials claimed the services were not hit by the protests though BJP claimed they blocked the services at the Rajiv Chowk and Karol Bagh Metro stations.
Protests were also witnessed at the Inter-State Bus Terminal in east Delhi's Anand Vihar where BJP workers blocked the entrance of the facility.
Police said traffic obstructions due to protests were reported from Lado Sarai, Mahaveer Murty towards Gurgoan, Devli Mode, MB Road, Sai Baba Chowk, Rohini and Janakpuri.
Vehicular movement was also affected at Nizamudin-Ring Road T point, Tigri Khanpur, Apsara Border, Sindhu Border, Burari Chowk, Khajuri Chowk, Prashant Vihar and Paschim Vihar due to the protest.
Police said personnel have been deployed across the city to manage the traffic. The bandh had little effect on the operations of the Indira Gandhi International airport here though some flights to Mumbai, where the protest disrupted normal life, were cancelled.
"Most of the arriving and departing flights were on schedule. No services have been disrupted though some flights to Mumbai have been cancelled," an airport official said.
Eighty-four flight services to and from Mumbai were cancelled considering the low passenger load due to the strike, the official said.
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