Normal life affected in Odisha due to 6-hr Congress bandh against fuel price rise

Normal life was affectedacross Odisha on Monday due to a six-hour bandh called by theCongress in protest against the hike in prices of petrol anddiesel.

Educational institutions were closed, train serviceswere hit and vehicles remained off the road during the bandhwhich began at 7 am.

Some untoward incidents took place during the shutdownin Bhubaneswar, Puri district and Subarnapur district.

At Bikina in Subarnapur district, bandh enforcersdetained a marriage party but allowed the vehicle of the groomand bride to move.

Bandh supporters allegedly ransacked a private vehicleat Master Canteen Square in the state capital while a group ofpeople vandalised a government office at Astrang in Puridistrict.

However, Congress workers also adopted 'Gandhigiri' asthey offered chocolates to people who came out on the streetsof Cuttack on their private vehicles during the bandh hours.

Party activists blocked national highways and otherkey roads in various parts of the state, includingBhubaneswar, leading to traffic jams.

East Coast Railway said that bandh supporters blockedTalcher, Bhubaneswar, Dhenkanal, Chhatarpur and Puri stationsfor varied periods.

Air and bus passengers faced a tough time in reachingtheir destinations due to unavailability of public transport.

The All Odisha Bus Owners' Association suspendedservices across the state during the bandh hours.

Paradip Port, however, functioned normally and itsloading and unloading operations were not affected, anofficial said.

The main gates of state secretariat 'Lok Seva Bhavan'were closed at 10.15 am to prevent agitators from entering thepremises while employees used side gates for entry and exit, apolice officer said.

''I thank the people of Odisha for their support to thebandh which has been held completely in a peaceful manner,''Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Niranjan Patnaik said.

He said that emergency services were exempted from thepurview of the bandh.

''The bandh was called to mount pressure on both thestate and central governments to reduce tax on petroleumproducts which will help in lowering the prices of petrol anddiesel,'' he said.

A litre of petrol and diesel cost Rs 89.69 and Rs86.47 respectively in Bhubaneswar on Monday.

The ruling BJD neither supported nor opposed the bandhbut the opposition BJP criticised the Congress for causingtrouble to people by enforcing the bandh.

Odisha Commerce and Transport Minister PadmanabhBehera claimed that the people were irritated due to pricerise of fuel, as it affected them.

Though people faced some difficulties during thebandh, it will mount pressure on the Centre, he said.

BJP deputy leader in the state assembly, B C Sethi,alleged that the Congress called the bandh to divert people'sattention from its internal squabbles.

''The state government should also announce a reductionin VAT and opt for GST on petroleum products to bring down theprices of petrol and diesel,'' he said.

As many as 25 platoons of police personnel weredeployed in the state capital to prevent any untowardincident, Bhubaneswar DCP U S Dash told reporters.