Bharat Bandh hits life, scuffle between BJP, TMC workers in Howrah

New Delhi: 9:28 am: JD(U) workers disrupted train movement at Darbhanga and Samastipur as they blocked the railway track.

9:00 am: A scuffle broke out between the TMC workers and BJP workers in Howrah. BJP workers were taking out a rally in support of the bandh and TMC workers were against it. The two rallies met and a scuffle broke out.

In Bangalore, government and private schools were shut, restaurants across Bangalore will also remain shut. KSRTC and BMTC buses were also off the roads though autorickshaws were plying in the city providing some relief to commuters.

8:00 am: The nationwide bandh called by the NDA and the Left parties started early on Thursday morning with the Samajwadi Party workers stopping trains in Allahabad. The BJP and JD(U) workers also stopped trains in Varanasi and Patna.

In Delhi, while many autorickshaws will remain off the roads, some of them were working early in the morning.

The nationwide protests on Wednesday against fuel price hike and FDI in retail are likely to bring life to a stand-still in major cities. The strike call has been given by both the NDA and the Third front parties.

Shiv Sena, though, has opted out of it. BJP leaders have fanned out to all major cities to lead the protest. Sushma Swaraj will be in Bhopal, Nitin Gadkari in Delhi, Rajnath Singh in Lucknow and Venkaiah Naidu in Hyderabad. Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party along with the Left and TDP has given a separate call for a bandh and its leaders will protest in Delhi.

Mulayam, top Left leaders and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will share the dais. DMK is the only UPA ally which has endorsed the bandh, while Mayawati's BSP has kept itself away from the protest.

The Trinamool Congress and AIADMK will also stay away from the bandh. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has warned that her government would not allow forcible enforcement of the bandh called by the CPI(M).

Protests are expected in all major cities including the national capital. Autorickshaws will stay off the road and markets will be shut in Delhi as the BJP plans to march to the Prime Minister's house and may court arrest.

The bandh is expected to have maximum impact in BJP-ruled states like Karnataka and Gujarat. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are likely to be hit, too, with the JD(U) and the Samajwadi Party supporting the bandh respectively.

The Shiv Sena, MNS and BJD have also decided not to participate in the bandh due to Ganpati Utsav.

Assam government would enforce pay cut, break in service and disciplinary action against employees who do not report for work during 'Bharat Bandh'.

Traders' body CAIT said its members in different states will also observe a bandh in protest against the government's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail sector.

"There will be no commercial activity across the country. Traders in different cities will take out protest marches and demonstrations," Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Praveen Khandelwal told reporters.

He said several leaders of different political parties, which are also observing the nation-wide bandh, will address a rally of retail traders at Jantar Mantar.

About 25,000 trade associations representing five crore traders, hawkers, labourers and farmers will participate in the bandh, Khandelwal claimed.

(With additional information from PTI)