Bharat Bandh hits normal life in Assam, Bihar; Rahul Gandhi leads opposition's protest over fuel price
New Delhi, Sept 9 (IBNS): Assam and Bihar are the two states which have been greatly affected by the Bharat Bandh (countrywide shutdown) called by the Congress to protest fuel price hike on Monday, media reports said.
In Patna, windows of several public buses were smashed as bandh supporters took to streets to ensure a complete shutdown.
Normal life in Assam was thrown out of gear since early morning.
Vehicular movement has been effected in Guwahati city as all buses went off in roads.
Protesters burnt tyres in Karimganj, Barpeta and many other places in the state.
The bandh has been supported by several opposition political parties including the Left.
Schools and institutions have remained closed in Odisha and Bengaluru on Monday.
Though transport services are normal in Kolkata, presence of people are lesser on the streets, local media reported.
Several buses were vandalised by MNS supporters in Pune.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday joined his party's protest march in the national capital.
Rahul was accompanied by several senior Congress leaders including former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Several other opposition party leaders are also sharing the dais with Rahul and his outfit over the issue in New Delhi.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is against the bandh, had however joined Rahul's protest march.
The fuel price hike is one of the recent issues which the opposition parties are using to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government, in the run up to 2019 General Elections.
The petrol price has already crossed Rs. 80/litre in several metropolitan cities.
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government has slashed four percent Value Added Tax (VAT) to reduce the petrol and diesel prices by Rs. 2.5.
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