New Delhi: Normal life was hit in some states Monday with offices and educational institutes closed and vehicles off the roads during an opposition-sponsored 'Bharat Bandh' which was mostly peaceful, barring some incidents of violence.
A three-year-old girl died in Bihar's Jehanabad district which the BJP alleged was due to delay in finding a vehicle to take her to the hospital. Train services were affected in Odisha.
The bandh was called by 21 opposition parties led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. It began at Rajghat where Gandhi offered holy water from his Kailash Mansarovar yatra. He then accompanied opposition leaders then marched to Ramlila Maidan from Rajghat.
In states like Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh life was hit by the shutdown, but Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Mizoram remained mostly unaffected.
In New Delhi, offices, schools and colleges opened at their regular time despite the bandh. Traffic was affected in Daryaganj and around Ramlila Maidan due to the protest.
In Odisha, train services were disrupted in many places as Congress workers blocked railway tracks to enforce the bandh. At least ten trains were cancelled.
In Kerala, the hartal hit normal life. Both public and private transport buses and autorickshaws kept off the roads.
The bandh evoked a mixed response in Telangana. The police took scores of workers of the Congress, Left and TDP into custody when they held protests and prevented buses from plying.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Karnataka. Roads in Bangalore wore a deserted look as government buses, private taxis and most autorickshaws did not ply.
In Jharkhand, 58 Congress activists were taken into police custody for forcibly trying to enforce the bandh.
Almost all schools, colleges and offices were open in West Bengal where examinations were held as scheduled.
Bandh supporters protested on railway tracks at Jadavpur station, but it was withdrawn after commuters' protest.
In Tamil Nadu, normal life largely remained unaffected. However, autorickshaws affiliated to trade unions participating in the shutdown kept off the roads, they said. Arson, vandalism and disruption of rail and road traffic were reported from Bihar. See inside