A man with his child walks in front of closed shops during nationwide general strike against unprecedented hike in fuel prices in Kolkata, India, on Sept, 10, 2018. Normal life in several parts of India was disrupted Monday due to a country-wide shutdown called by opposition parties to protest the rise of fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee. (Xinhua/Tumpa Mondal)
by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Normal life in several parts of India was disrupted Monday due to a country-wide shutdown called by opposition parties to protest the rise of fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
The protest given the name Bharat Bandh (India Shutdown) was called by main opposition Congress party and supported by over 20 other parties.
The protesters held marches, forced train blockades and closure of shops in many parts of the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Assam.
In the capital of Delhi, Congress party President Rahul Gandhi led the protests at a meeting in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan along with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and former Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh also joined the protest.
Singh said the Narendra Modi government had done a number of things that were not in the interest of the nation.
"The time to change this government will come soon," Singh said.
The protest coincided with another slide in the rupee, which dropped to a new low of 72.67 against the U.S. dollar on Monday.
Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Modi and blamed him for the ongoing price rise.
"The value of rupee in the past 70 years has never been so low. Petrol prices are more than 80 rupees a liter and diesel a little less," Rahul Gandhi said.
He also questioned Modi's silence over the price hike and depreciation of rupee.
Reports from Mumbai said trains were halted briefly and petrol pumps and shops were forced to shut in some parts.
In Bihar, protesters reportedly vandalized vehicles in state capital Patna and blocked railway track at Rajendra Nagar Terminal railway station. Workers from opposition parties were seen carrying a motorbike on their shoulders during a march to protest the fuel price hike.
Reports said state-run buses and other vehicles kept off roads and educational institutions were shut in Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Assam and Odisha.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also took to the streets in Delhi, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to protest the price rise.
In Delhi the protests were led by Sitaram Yechury, the party's general secretary.
"Oil price hikes of this order, will raise prices of everything," Yechury said.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government held a press conference over the issue and said people were not in support of the shutdown.
"Bharat Bandh has been unsuccessful. We condemn the violence being used to instil fear among citizens across the country," Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "BJP believes that in spite of some momentary difficulty, the people aren't in support of the Bandh. This is unnerving the Congress and other opposition parties."
Prasad said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has been trying its best to contain inflation, and it has succeeded on numerous fronts.
