India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The nationwide shutdown, called upon by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left on Thursday in protest against the steep hike in petrol prices witnessed demonstrations, processions and roadblocks. Ramesh Khurana, a BJP activist, told mediapersons here that people had come out in large numbers to support the shutdown. "The BJP has called for shutdown to raise the voice against the insensitive government on behalf of people, and the people have extended their support," Khurana said. The BJP workers echoed similar sentiments in Kolkata, where Debojit Rai, a BJP activist slammed the Congress for being indifferent to the problems of the people. "We are protesting against inflation and we have come out in support of the people. We are trying to disrupt the vehicle, which the government is forcefully trying to drive and is burdening the people," Rai said. In Siliguri, BJP activist Shubhojeet Banerjee said they had called for a 12 -hour shutdown to avoid inconvenience to the people. "Though National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has called for daylong nationwide shutdown, in order to avoid any inconvenience to the people, we have called for 12 -hour shutdown in Bengal ," Banerjee informed. In Patna , people aghast with towering prices burnt their two-wheelers amidst protests over the petrol price rise. "It is not within my budget to buy petrol at such a high price and use my vehicle. So I burned my motorcycle on the road and now instead of a motorcycle or car, I will buy a bicycle. The government wants us to go backwards," said Mritunjay Singh, a protester. Commuters in Kolkata were left stranded as public transport was thrown out of gear. "I have been waiting from last 20 minutes and there are no taxis available because of the strike," said Debashish Banerjee, a commuter. BJP workers in New Delhi blocked the railway tracks and halted the movement of trains to vent their ire over Delhi government's decision to levy the increased Value Added Tax (VAT) on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The BJP Delhi unit President, Vijender Gupta, demanded a rollback in petrol prices, calling the decision as an after effect of wrong policies of the government. "Because of the wrong policies of the government, the prices of petrol are touching the sky and are being raised frequently. We demand a rollback of petrol prices. The Delhi government has raised the prices of CNG by 1.75 rupees, so we demand a rollback in the prices of CNG," Gupta said.

Nationwide protests mark Bharat Bandh against hike in petrol prices