A bandh for the people

It was a bandh with a difference. On Thursday, Jharkhand was finally witness to a shutdown to which the masses responded spontaneously. The Opposition cannon’s boom would have jangled the nerves of the Congress-led UPA Government.

The NDA Opposition at the Centre, Left parties and others had called for the countrywide shutdown against FDI in retail, the coal blocks scam and exorbitant hike in prices of petroleum products.

In Ranchi, life was paralysed as shops stayed closed till the evening. The bandh was supported by trade body FJCCI against introduction of FDI in retail and price hike in petroleum products.

Railway services and other public transport was the worst-affected as protesters blocked many trains. Passengers remained stranded at stations and railway sources said a good numbers of trains ran late.

Hundreds of workers of the BJP, Left and others brought out rallies and were widely supported by the people. Police sources said around 500 agitators were arrested but released by evening.

JVM chief Babulal Marandi, along with party leader Pradeep Yadav and workers, joined a protest march against FDI and petrol price hike. The RJD, though, remained evasive in joining the Opposition’s chorus but extended moral support to the truckers’ association asking the Centre to review the recent price hike.

The Left — known for its ideological aversion in supporting any bandh given by the NDA or the BJP — for once did not mind mixing their party flags with that of the BJP on Thursday. The Samajwadi Party, which till a few days ago was angling for the Congress, jumped on to the Opposition’s bandwagon in Jharkhand too.

Demanding an immediate rollback, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) and Jharkhand Truckers’ Association too joined the shutdown brigade, though they declined that their protest had anything to do with the NDA-sponsored bandh.

State BJP spokesperson Pradeep Sinha said, “Today’s bandh is a clear message for the Congress and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that UPA-II has lost its mandate. It was a massive and spontaneous bandh supported by the people.”

He added, “Singh is running one of the most unpopular and corrupt Governments. A silent PM and an evasive UPA are not the answer to the burning issues faced by the country.”

The BJP will carry forward the agitation as the party has decided to submit a memorandum to the Governor on Saturday to seek the resignation of the PM and to demand total scrapping of the FDI entry move, along with rollback of the recent price hike.

FDI and petrol prices remained the common tune of the Opposition, though the BJP highlighted Coalgate too.

At least one senior State Congress leader privately accepted that the sweeping shutdown may have ramifications on Central politics. “One can’t ignore such public support or term it a stage-managed affair. FDI may be the part of the larger scheme of the Centre to introduce reform and liberalisation in the retail market but the Centre chose a wrong time for a right thing,” the leader said. 

“The Union Government was forced to take a strong decision to introduce rationing of LPG cylinders and others but again, the timing was bad,” he added. The Congress leader pointed out that his worries lay beyond the baffling arithmetic of the floor — it was a wider credibility deficit that would hurt in the final lap to the general elections.

However, the chief interest of the seasoned protesters remained focused on what Delhi was chattering about — a Third Front in the making?