CHANDIGARH: A complete bandh was observed in Punjab on Thursday though day-to-day activities were only partially affected in Haryana. Commercial establishments, private and government schools, remained shut and transportation came to a near standstill. The schools that opened saw negligible number of students.
Roads in most cities including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala wore a deserted look. However, despite the intense summer heat, SAD and BJP leaders protested, blocked roads and burnt effigies of the UPA government, demanding a rollback of the recently-hiked petrol rates.
In Phagwara, SAD-BJP workers led by chief parliamentary secretary Som Parkash and Markfed chairman Jarnail Singh Wahid agitated on the national highway-1, in front of the bus stand, for nearly 45 minutes. Private and mini buses stayed off roads while Punjab roadways buses were in operation. SAD-BJP workers waylaid traffic at the main Chandigarh chowk for around an hour.
Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia took out a cycle rally from Ranjit Avenue to the district administrative complex for handing over a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner.
Majithia said, “The steep rise in petrol rates from Rs 36 per litre during tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government to Rs 80 per litre speaks volumes about the mismanaged affairs in the Centre.” The situation was similar at Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Qadian.
In Sangrur, Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa led protesters at the district administrative complex.
Dhindsa, accusing Centre of “befooling masses”, said the oil companies earn at least Rs 10,000 crore profit per year and the Union government was at present getting Rs 15 as tax on per litre of petrol. The bandh call in Congress-ruled Haryana evoked a mixed response.
The bandh was successful in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Hisar, Sirsa and Ambala, where demonstrations were organized by the Left parties. The BJP-HJC workers urged shopkeepers to keep shutters down in Hisar and Sirsa.
News Source: Times of India
