Shutdown cripples life in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, May 31 (IANS) Normal life was thrown out of gear in the city and large parts of Chhattisgarh Thursday, as all modes of public transport remained off the road and shopkeepers downed their shutters in support of the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) call for shutdown to protest petrol price hike.

Notably, Left parties also called a shutdown, independent of the NDA, an amalgamation of more than a dozen political parties led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), against the steep hike in petrol price, effected recently by oil companies.

The impact of the shutdown in Chhattisgarh was widespread as the protest call of the BJP, the ruling party in the state, was supported by 16 organisations, including the powerful Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries. This resulted in a total shutdown in the industrial belt of the capital city and many other cities and towns of the state.

Colleges and universities where examinations are going on remained open though the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student outfit affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, called for the shutdown.

Students of many engineering and professional colleges located in the steel town of Bhilai were stranded, and had to use private vehicles to reach their examination centres or institutions as the college buses did not ply.

Though the shutdown call was given a couple of days ago, the daily wagers, who buy food items and other necessities on daily basis, had difficulty in getting their milk and vegetables supplies as vendors shut their outlets.

Petrol bunks too remained closed. Only retail medicine shops were open as they were exempted by protestors from the shutdown.