Cong’s state bandh over Vanzara letter evokes mixed response

Congress claims it was 100% successful,BJP declares it was a complete failure

The bandh call given by Gujarat Congress on Friday,demanding resignation of Chief Minister Narendra Modi over jailed IPS officer D G Vanzaras letter,evoked mixed response from different parts of the state. The walled city areas of Ahmedabad,Raipur and Khadia,which are considered to be BJP bastions,remained completely shut. Similarly,Saurashtra,Rajkot,Jamnagar and Porbandar cities remained completely shut. Other parts of the state,like Vadodara in Central Gujarat and Surat in South Gujarat,the bandh call was partially successful.

In Ahmedabad,Modis effigies were burnt in Shahpur,Ambawadi,Danilimda and Behrampura areas. Ten Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) buses were vandalised at various places like RTO Circle and Sarkhej. The tyres of 20 other AMTS buses were deflated. Two AMTS buses were torched at Lal Darwaza depot and Vasna depot respectively.

Protesters also tried to stop a train at Vastrapur Railway Station. However,they were immediately detained by police. In another incident,a college principal was locked inside his chamber by protesters for about an hour. Juhapura area remained completely shut throughout the day. And the otherwise busy junction near APMC market witnessed thin traffic. Ahmedabad Police Commissioner held a meeting with senior police officers late in the afternoon to control the situation. In Ahmedabad,around 400 persons were detained by police.

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Vadodara city witnessed partial bandh with sporadic incidents of violence. Incidents of stone-pelting were reported from various parts of the city. Congress leaders from the city were kept under police detention since 6 am. Around 128 party workers were detained in the city.

Elsewhere in Central Gujarat,at least 25 persons were detained in Bodeli. In Dahod,Congress MLA Vajubhai Panada was detained along with 10 others. Godhra MLA C K Raulji was also briefly detained.

Six youth Congress members were arrested by police in Rajpipla of Narmada district for burning the Modis effigy on Thursday. They were released on bail on Friday.

In Saurashtra region,Jamnagar and Porbandar cities remained completely shut as Congress workers forced shopkeepers to keep their shutters down. However,the bandh call got partial support in other districts,like Junagadh,Bhavnagar,Surendranagar,Amreli and Kutch,which largely remained peaceful.

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Rajkot city Congress president Jasvant Bhatti was arrested late on Thursday night for attempting to set a state transport bus and its driver on fire. Over half a dozen Congress MLAs and hundreds of Congress workers were detained by police in the region. There was a mixed response to the bandh call in Surrat as well. In Surat city,workers of Gujarat Parivartan Party were detained. It was the same scene in Navsari,Valsad and Tapi districts.

Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia and the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela claimed that over 4,500 party workers were arrested by the police from different places and 20,000 others were detained with an intention to make bandh unsuccessful. They alleged that police misbehaved with party women workers in Gandhinagar and with senior party leader Surendra Bakhshi in Ahmedabad.

However,Gujarat BJP president R C Faldu and BJP spokesperson I K Jadeja said that the bandh was a complete failure.

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