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National protest day passes off peacefully

The 'national protest day' called by various political parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition's recommendation to impose President's rule in Bihar was marked by rallies, processions, bandhs and dharnas with stray incidents of violence.

The all-India protest, led by the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (National Democratic Front) comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Laloo Prasad Yadav and the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, was supported by the Left parties and the Congress.

Congress spokesperson Girija Vyas said the protest evoked "very good" response throughout the country.

In New Delhi, Opposition parties staged a dharna (sit-in) at the historic Jantar Mantar. Two former Union ministers, Raghuvansh Prasad and Jai Narain Prasad Nishad, took part. The protestors disbursed after shouting slogans in front of the Parliament Street police station.

The Delhi unit of the Congress staged sit-ins at a dozen places. Addressing party workers at six of these, state Congress chief Sheila Dikshit said if bad governance was the yardstick for Rabri Devi's dismissal, the governments of Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan should also go.

In Uttar Pradesh, the bandh evoked partial response.

In Gorakhpur, agitators led by Jana Manch president Jagdambika Pal stopped the Vaishali Express for one and a half hours at Basti railway station. Pal addressed a gathering on the platform.

A report from Etawah said rail traffic was disrupted on the Delhi-Howrah trunk route when protesters squatted on the tracks and pelted stones.

Some Samajwadi Party activists were arrested at Bharthana railway station.

A report from Bahraich said Waqar Ahmad Shah, chief whip of the Samajwadi Party in the state legislature, and hundreds of party workers courted arrest.

But in the capital, Lucknow, the bandh made little impact. Markets, commercial and other institutions, and government offices remained open. Public transport was normal. Barring one incident in which Yuva Samajwadi Party activists set a jeep afire, the day passed off peacefully.

In Bihar, rallies and processions were taken out all over the state.

A protest rally led by RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav started from the Ambedkar statue in Patna and culminated at Gandhi Maidan after passing through all the main thoroughfares of the city.

Seven Left parties led by the CPI-M and the CPI staged a sit-in near the statue.

The Opposition staged dharnas in various districts of Rajasthan also.

In the capital, Jaipur, the Congress staged a sit-in at Manak Chowk. The RJD state unit and the Left parties staged separate protests.

Similar protests were held at other district headquarters. Memoranda were later submitted to the respective district collectors for forwarding to the President.

In Bombay, 384 Samajwadi Party activists were arrested during sporadic incidents of protest demonstrations and rasta rokos (road blockades). They were released in the evening.

Barring a couple of incidents of stone-pelting at Colaba in south Bombay and attempts to force the closure of shops at Goregaon and Dahisar in the western suburbs, no untoward incidents were reported. Life remained normal with offices, business establishments, and educational activities remaining unaffected.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader and film star Raj Babbar, MP, clarified that no bandh had been called and the protest actions were restricted to peaceful sit-ins and demonstrations.

The Samajwadi Party and the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee staged separate sit-ins at Azad Maidan in south Bombay. Later a delegation of the Samajwadi Party and the RJD called on Governor P C Alexander and submitted a memorandum addressed to the President.

In Pune, the city unit of the Congress led by its president Mohan Joshi held a protest rally near the collectorate. A delegation later submitted a memorandum meant for the President to the additional collector.

In Kerala, normal life was paralysed in most parts even as the seven-hour hartal (general strike) called by the Left parties passed off peacefully.

Shops and business establishments remained closed. Public transport was off the roads. Government offices registered thin attendance.

Three CPI-M activists were injured when a group of Congress workers prevented them from stopping a lorry at Kadakkal in Quilon district.

An autorickshaw was damaged when CPI-M activists threw stones at Kallummoodu in the Fort police station area in the capital Trivandrum.

In Palghat, CPI-M activists roughed up the owner of a Maruti car who ventured out despite the strike.

Though the opposition parties had called for a nationwide bandh today, the state unit of the CPI-M observed a hartal from 6 am to 1 pm IST as the Kerala High Court has banned bandhs.

In Tamil Nadu, volunteers of the Congress and its allies blocked trains at various stations. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief Tindivanam K Ramamurthy, United Communist Party of India state president T Pandian, Rashtriya Janata Dal state chief Jagaveerapandian, and former TNCC president Kumari Anandan were among more than 3,000 people arrested when they squatted on the tracks. Several trains were delayed for periods ranging from one to four hours.

In Madras, while Ramamurthy and Jagaveerapandian led the protest at Madras Central, Anandan and former MP Era Anbarasu led the agitators at Egmore station.

Volunteers of the three parties, along with activists of the Samajwadi Party, agitated at railway stations in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Cuddalore, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Salem, and Coimbatore.

At Trichy, the Tiruchirapalli-Madras Pallavan Express was detained by Congress workers. They were quickly removed by the Railway Protection Force. No one was arrested.

In neighbouring Pondicherry, RJD volunteers staged a demonstration in front of the head post office.

A report from Cuddalore said 89 Congress workers headed by former MP S S R Ramadoss detained the Villuppuram-Mayiladuthurai Passenger for five minutes. They were arrested under section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

UNI

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