MP Cong calls Bharat bandh successful, BJP dubs it anarchic

Bhopal, Sep 10 (PTI) The Congress' Bharat bandh against rising fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee Monday saw party workers in Madhya Pradesh carry out rallies and hold protests outside commercial establishments and fuel pumps that were open. While the MP Congress called the shutdown successful, the ruling BJP accused the former of adopting "anarchic" ways to intimidate people to enforce the bandh.

In Bhopal, a flower shop owned by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's son Kartikey was at the centre of a protest by Congress workers. The shop, situated in Ravishankar Market here, later downed shutters following the protest, said Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi.

Several Congress leaders led rallies asking people and shopkeepers to participate in the shutdown and there were also reports of party workers trying to forcibly shut fuel pumps and other commercial establishments in Ujjain. One such attempt outside a petrol pump in Ujjain's Chimanganj area led to a scuffle between Congress workers and police, an official said.

Chimanganj Police Station in-charge Arvind Tomar said that protesters set aside barricades put up at petrol pumps but were driven away by police. A petrol pump was ransacked in the Civil Lines area of Jabalpur as well, said officials. The Congress claimed that the bandh got full support of the people of Jhabua.

"We have got full support from the people. Shopkeepers kept their establishments closed so did petrol pump owners. Local MP Kantilal Bhuria led a rally with a bullock cart in the front," informed Jhabua district Congress president Nirmal Mehta.

Jhabua Superintendent of Police Mahesh Jain said that no untoward incident was reported from the district, adding that Congress workers staged protests and submitted memorandums in some places in the district. In a symbolic protest in Jabalpur, Congress workers set ablaze a junk car, said Congress leader Dinesh Yadav.

MP Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) Makrand Deuskar said, "About 110 protesters were arrested under section 151 of CrPC when they were trying to enforce the bandh. This number may go up.

Three FIRs have been filed at Ujjain, Jabalpur and Katni." Deuskar said that the FIR in Ujjain was filed due to ruckus at a petrol pump under Chimanganj police station while the ones at Katni and Jabalpur were in connection with bandh supporters attempting to block railway tracks.

Talking to reporters in Bhopal, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said, "Our demand is that prices and taxes of diesel and petrol be brought to 2014 levels. Either VAT (Value Added Tax) on petrol and diesel should be reduced or fuel should be brought under GST."

Asked about shopkeepers being forced to keep their establishments shut during the bandh, Singh claimed that it was the BJP's conspiracy to defame the Congress. Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi claimed that people had voluntarily supported the bandh since they were suffering due to inflation and high fuel prices.

"People on their own are supporting the bandh. It has been successful in most parts of the state. Most of the markets in Bhopal and Indore remained shut. Our leaders took out rallies across the state," Chaturvedi said.

The BJP, meanwhile, called the Congress' behavior during the bandhas "anarchic" and "Naxal like". "The Congress adopted anarchic and violent ways to intimidate people. Despite the opposition's efforts, the bandh failed.

The Congress is desperate to get back in power using violence, which is Naxal-like thinking," claimed state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal. In Indore, 110 trade bodies had supported the bandh, said Ramesh Khandelwal, president of Indore's Ahilya Chambers of Commerce and Industries.