Little grassroots support for TMC bandh

Asserting that it was a far more successful strike than Thursday’s CPM-sponsored bandh, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said: “The bandh called by the CPM was a farce and the rain forced the people to stay indoors anyway. People have supported us throughout.”

Her words were only partly true. For unlike yesterday, a small section of road transport remained operational. And while many people went about their work, the city witnessed violence in several pockets.

A state-run bus was damaged in mob violence near Mominpur. The bus of route E-4 was headed for Howrah from Parnasree when it was stopped by a mob and was damaged by bandh supporters.

In another stray incident, bandh supporters forced a pan stall to close down near City Centre mall in upmarket Salt Lake. The shop owner was beaten up and suffered losses as the bandh enforcers vandalised his shop.

In face of the public mood against bandh, while meeting the media later, Mamata claimed: “We decided to withdraw the bandh two hours earlier. If people have supported us throughout the day, the least we could do is to allow them to go about their work at least two hours earlier. This is called generosity and the CPM should learn this from us.”

The bandh’s chief effect was seen on the railway services, which in both long distance and suburban sections, went haywire. At least 21 trains were cancelled and 17 others rescheduled. Nine trains were terminated short of their destinations.

The aviation sector remained unaffected. Take-offs and landings were on schedule at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, even though the passengers found it difficult to leave the airport.

“Seeing no taxis, I had decided to walk all the way to the VIP Road with my wife and children. Luckily we found cycle rickshaws. But we were forced to cough up Rs 30 per rickshaw,” said TVL Narayanan, an IT professional who flew in from Bangalore to a shut down city.