Defying a bandh called by militants in seven districts, 51 per cent of the over 15 lakh electorate cast their votes in the first five hours of polling to the 60-member Meghalaya assembly on Saturday. "Till 1:pm around 51 per cent of votes were cast out of the 15 lakh plus voters in the state," Chief Election Officer P Naik said.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, a key ally of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, on Tuesday announced its participation in the nation-wide bandh on September 20 called by several non-UPA parties to protest the Centre's decision to hike diesel price, allow FDI in multi-brand retail and limit subsidised cooking gas.
As the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation of farmers entered the third day on Thursday, two key border points between Delhi and Haryana remained closed for traffic, while security personnel in anti-riot gear conducted drills and mock exercises to ensure their fool-proof preparation.
All major markets in the capital, including Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar, Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Greater Kailash, Chandni Chowk, South Extension, Mayur Vihar, Khan Market and Kamala Market remained closed, traders claimed.
The nationwide strike called by Left parties and their allies to protest Centre's "failure" to check price rise on Tuesday hit normal life across the country.
Opposition-sponsored Bharat Bandh against price rise on Monday did not evoke much response in New Delhi barring some areas where BJP and Left activists blocked road and rail traffic and forcibly shut shops.
Samajwadi Party workers on Thursday held demonstrations in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and stopped a train in Allahabad in support of the bandh against Foreign Direct Investment in retail and hike in diesel prices.
Seldom does the apex court take up for open hearing on any matter on Sundays and holidays unless the issue involved is of grave importance.
An association of traders has called a shutdown in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to protest the municipal corporation's plan to start collecting octroi from newly merged areas of the city. \n
Andhra Pradesh was paralysed by yet another bandh on Wednesday, as rival organisations called for strike in Telangana and Andhra-Rayalseema regions on the issue of their share in government jobs in Hyderabad.
Top leaders of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance chalked out the strategy for a nation-wide strike call tomorrow against the government's "failure" to control price rise.
A Dalit youth was beaten to death on Wednesday as violence and arson marred the protests that erupted in parts of Maharashtra and Kanpur against the alleged vandalisation of a statue of B R Ambedkar in Kanpur.
While corruption and inflation have made life difficult for the common man, the government's decision to hike petrol prices has only added fuel to fire, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare has said. "My activists will support the Bharat Bandh called by the BJP and Left parties on May 30 to protest the petrol price hike," Hazare said while addressing a public meeting.
The bandh was called in response to the arrest of a Maoist last week.
Maoists torched two railway stations, blew up a community centre and exchanged fire with police on the second day of their 48-hour bandh in three of five states -- Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar.
The Punjab bandh call given by some radical Sikh organisations on Monday to protest Saturday's violence at Ludhiana, in which one person was killed, evoked a mixed response. Rail and road traffic movement remained normal across the state, even as authorities relaxed curfew in several areas in the violence-hit industrial town.Shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed in many parts of the state.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, on a fast for the last six days demanding a separate Telangana state, was on Saturday shifted to the ICU of a Hyderabad hospital after his condition deteriorated, even as the party called a two-day bandh in the region from Monday.
Normal life was hit in Assam on Thursday due to a day-long Assam bandh called by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom to protest against the stepped up operation by security forces against it.
The unprecedented hike in petrol prices has helped the Left and the Right to make common cause on Thursday for a nationwide protest, described by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies as Bharat Bandh and by Left as All India Protest Day.
There were about 290 bandhs, blockades called by numerous organisations during fiscal 2012-13.
Sporadic violence hit Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana region on Sunday, on the first day of the 48-hour bandh called by the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, with protestors damaging bank ATMs, torching a hotel and indulging in vandalism to press for their demand for a separate state. Normal life came to a grinding halt as the day coincided with the anniversary of Babri mosque demolition, which is observed as 'Black Day' by various groups.
Normal life was on Friday thrown out of gear across West Bengal with rail and road traffic severely affected in the wake of a 12-hour state bandh called by the Congress to protest against the attack, allegedly by Communist Party of India - Marxist supporters, on its Members of Legislative Assembly at Mangalkot in Burdwan district.Skeleton vehicular movement was seen on the city roads. A few private bus owners operated their buses. Shops and educational institutions were shut.
Defending the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed an "unprecedented" era of peace, progress and prosperity, with street violence, orchestrated by terrorists and secessionist networks, becoming "a thing of the past."
The common man was bearing the brunt of the escalating prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, the Congress said.
The 24-hour transport strike called by the Centre of Indian Trade Union-led left trade unions in West Bengal against the Centre's decision to hike petrol and diesel prices on Monday affected normal life and virtually assumed the dimensions of a bandh
A bandh called by various organisations in protest against the killing of a 14-year-old girl Purnima Rajak in a bomb blast on Tuesday evening, paralysed life in Dibrugarh city as well as the entire district on Thursday.
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
Shops, markets and business establishments were closed while very thin attendance was reported in government offices due to the 24-hour strike called by the Kuki Students Organisation.
Markets, shops, business establishments remained closed, reports said.
Life in Kashmir was affected on Wednesday because of a bandh called by the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front coinciding with the 25th death anniversary of its founder, Mohammad Maqbool Bhat. Bhat was hanged in New Delhi's Tihar jail this day in 1984 and was buried inside the jail premises.
Left parties on Monday decided to extend support to the 'Bharat Bandh' called by Confederation of All India Traders on December 1 to protest the Centre's decision to allow FDI in retail.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee has called for a bandh in Telangana region on Friday.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee has called for a bandh in Telangana region on Friday.
A 48-hour bandh is being observed in North Bengal to oppose the tripartite agreement to be signed on Monday to pave the way for setting up of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, the new hill council in Darjeeling. The shutdown has been called by plains-based organisations Amra Bangali, Jana Jagaran and Jana Chetana to protest the move.Private cars and buses remained off the roads and shops and markets were closed in Siliguri.
The rebellion within the Congress about the Telangana issue is getting worse. Congress leaders from Telangana first tendered their resignations and then went up to the Osmania University campus to continue their protests. When they were prevented from entering the campus, they shouted slogans against party chief Sonia Gandhi. Congress leaders from Telangana are now planning on a two day bandh across the region to step up pressure on the government to make a final decision.
How effective are these strikes to solve an issue as vexing as this? Aren't strikes a bane for a nation already reeling under a heavy dose of inflation? Don't strikes put more pressure on an inflationary economic structure like India's?
