Today’s bandh had all the signs of being successful. Flights were grounded, companies shut offices, buses were set on fire and tyres were burnt in response to a nationwide strike over the rise in fuel prices called by the main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party, and the leftist bloc. The predominant colour on the street was khaki, as policemen fanned out and people stayed in.
These signs will disappear tomorrow. Life will be back to normal and everyone will come to terms with today’s disruption, including the Rs 3,000-4,000 crore loss which may have befallen trade and industry.
However, a lasting headache will remain for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the government it leads at the Centre. Today’s bandh tests the government’s resolve to push ahead with the efforts to cut subsidies and rein in a budget deficit that has ballooned to a 16-year high. It also proves that BJP and the Left, divided by the sentimental fissure of religion, can join hands on economic issues.
Shares of oil companies fell today in a flat market; they had been doing well since the government announced deregulation of fuel prices, and the resultant increase, on June 25.
View from the states
Airports in Mumbai and Delhi were open, but some flights were cancelled in response to low passenger loads. As many as 84 flights into and out of Mumbai’s airport were cancelled.
Reports said private airlines didn’t operate until 6 pm in Kolkata.
The national truckers’ union said more than 600,000 trucks stayed off the roads. The All India Motor Transport Congress, which represents 7,000 trucking and logistics companies, had supported today’s bandh.
States in which Opposition parties are in power had near-total shutdown. Even in Delhi, the bandh did have an impact. Shopping hubs like Connaught Place and Jan Path showed more shutters than shop windows and the Metro train service faced disruptions. BJP leaders held a rally at the Chandni Chowk market.
Businesses were largely shut in financial capital Mumbai, while in West Bengal, a communist bastion, supporters marched on the streets. Drugmakers Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals — both have corporate headquarters in Mumbai — were among those who told office staff to stay at home. Stock market volumes were low.
Most software companies were closed in information technology hotspot Bangalore, in BJP-ruled Karnataka. These included Infosys Technologies and Wipro Ltd, the country’s second- and third-largest software exporters.
Confederation of Indian Industry said Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were badly hit. The impact was not so severe in Gujarat (though BJP-ruled), Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, determined to deny any political mileage to BJP (the Opposition in the state) or UPA (whose ally Samajwadi Party is unlikely to receive Diwali sweets from the chief minister), gave instructions to break the bandh if it interfered with the lives of the people. Police officers told Business Standard they had instructions to break up any demonstration. In Lucknow, police beat protesters when they broke the security cordon. In Noida, 150 BJP protestors were lathicharged and arrested, to be released later. Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were arrested.
Opposition unity
BJP and the Left parties had independently called the one-day bandh, but that both wanted it on the same day may have been more than a coincidence. Economics may have begun to take precedence over politics and religion.
UPA is seven seats short of majority in the Lok Sabha, which has made it vulnerable in the recent weeks. The government was forced to backtrack on plans to reserve more seats for female legislators and open the nuclear energy industry to foreign equipment providers.
“This is not an issue of any political party. This is the issue of the common man,” said Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Brinda Karat.
The same spirit was visible on the floor of the House during the Budget this year when both coalitions walked out together. Both groupings were united in seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Indian Premier League investigations because some members of the government were seen to be too deeply mired in its affairs.
The Congress, UPA’s lead constituent, however expressed the confidence that this unity wouldn’t last as it was not based on common ideology. “The two forces have to agree on a common approach to communalism for this unity to be purposive and complete. As that can never happen, they cannot ever unite," said a Union minister. This was echoed by Congress General Secretary Abhishek Singhvi, who dismissed the bandh as “sensationalist”.
Congress leaders said they had many aces up their sleeves to ensure the Opposition stayed divided. These included the Communal Violence Bill. BJP is totally opposed to this legislation, which gives the Centre the power to intervene directly in handling communal riots. The Left opposes the bill because it feels the Congress’ version is watered down.
