The BJP-led NDA on Saturday decided to hold a nationwide bandh on September 20 to protest against the governments decisions on FDI in retail,diesel price hike and cap on supply of subsidised LPG cylinders. Meanwhile,SP and JD (S),which support the government from outside,joined hands with the Left parties,TDP and BJD to announce a powerful protest on September 20 through hartals,picketings,demonstrations and court-arrest programmes. Earlier in the day,BJP leader LK Advani said the governments decisions were a desperate bid to shift the focus of debate from corruption to reforms. In the evening,he announced that NDA leaders have talked informally to other political parties and decided to hold a bandh across the country on September 20. Earlier,the BJP had directed its local units to hold nationwide protests against coal block allotments from September 17-24. Advani,however,sought to assert that the issue of corruption will remain in focus until the next Lok Sabha elections. He said the government was gravely mistaken if it thought that it could shift the focus through its reform initiatives. Meanwhile,BSP leader Mayawati,while opposing the governments anti-people decisions,said her party would take a final decision on continuing outside support to the government on October 10.
