The call given for Bharat Bandh today by NDA and others to protest against the decision of the Union Government to hike the prices of diesel and allow FDI in multi-brand retail and limiting subsidised cooking gas cylinders was almost total in all parts of the State.
However, no untoward incident has been reported in any part of the State and the ‘Bharat Bandh backed on BJP’s call was supported by various other organizations. The buses were plying as usual and even the establishments providing essential services were spared from the Bandh.
In Shimla, BJP protested near DC office, in which senior leader GP Nadda, Bimla Kashyap, Shimla MLA Suresh Bhardwaj, Rupa Sharma, Ganesh Dutt, Dr. Ashok Kapahtia, Kapil Sood, Ramesh Sood, Sher Singh Chauhan, Kiran Bava and many other party workers participated. In Dharamshala, Senior leader Shanta Kumar lead the protest, whereas State president Satpal Satti lead the protesters at Una city. In Nahan, Dr Rajiv Bindal and Chander Mohan Thakur participated in the protest, whereas BJYM national president and HPCA chief Anurag Thakur participated the protest at Chandigarh. BJP workers in their address try to convince the workers about the danger of FDI in retail.
Commercial establishments were closed in parts of the state. Though, State-run transport and private buses and trains were plying, but trucks did not. Government offices and educational institutions were also functioning normally. Most of the private hotels and shops were shut in the state as the trade unions participated in the shutdown.
The impact of the shutdown was more in major towns like Shimla, Rampur, Theog, Solan, Mandi, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Dharamsala, Palampur and Kangra. So far there was no report of violence across the state, a police official said.
