The dawn to dusk Bharat Bandh, called by the Left and the BJP to protest diesel price hike, capping of subsidised LPG cylinders to six per year per family and allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail trade, evoked good response in the North Eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Manipur today. All the major cities of the region, including Guwahati, Shillong, Itanagar, Agartala witnessed complete shutdown.
Across the region, shops and business establishments observed complete shutdown, traffic was almost off the road, banks, schools and colleges were closed. Though there were reports of slight disruption in rail traffic in Assam, no untoward incident during Bandh period was reported from anywhere in the region. Attendance in government offices was thin across the region, though it was better in Assam as the state government had issued a circular yesterday asking government employees to be present in offices today, else to face disciplinary action.
Public transport in Guwahati city was completely off the road, with just government-run city busses seen plying on the roads. BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from Guwahati, Bijoya Chakraborty, was seen enforcing the Bandh in Guwahati.
Most striking was the affect of Bandh in Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya. Though the affects of earlier such Bharat Bandhs were minimal in Shillong, today it witnessed total shutdown.
All government offices, educational institutions, banks, public transport, business establishments were closed in support to the Bandh. Bandh also crippled normal life completely in Left-ruled state of Tripura.