Kolkata: Kolkatans on Wednesday foiled the 12-hour bandh called by BJP, with daily life functioning normally.
The premier schools in the city, both private and those owned by the state government, recorded high attendance of students on Wednesday. The scenario was the same in the government-aided schools as well.
The bandh called by BJP to protest the death of two youths at Islampur in North Dinajpur, hardly had an impact on the people in Kolkata.
A senior official of a renowned private school in Central Kolkata said that their school recorded 90-95 percent attendance, just like any other normal day. The students did not face any difficulty as there was adequate number of buses on the city streets. Many students from the school, however, said that they came to school in private cars and faced no inconvenience while going to school.
According to a senior official of the School Education department, all the schools operated normally and the attendance of the students in various schools was also noteworthy. A headmaster of a government-aided school in South Kolkata said that there was enthusiasm among the students.
People of Bengal have shunned their old habit of sitting idle in the house during a bandh. People now-adays come forward to thwart the attempt of bandh called by any party.
It may be mentioned here that all the state-run medical colleges and the hospitals in the city also functioned normally, with large number of patients visiting the out-patient departments of various medical colleges.
The Health department had instructed all the hospitals in the state to ensure adequate arrangement of doctors, nurses and other health workers. Hospital authorities were also asked to take precautionary measures in case of any incidents of violence in the city.
BJP leaders and activists, however, created chaos in some parts of the city. They tried to terrify people and attempted to close down the shutters in various shops in Kolkata. However, the people gathered courage to thwart their attempts. The police administration also remained vigilant throughout the day.
Some of the BJP-backed goons threatened to stop vehicles in some parts of the city, from the morning. As a result, people in buses engaged in heated altercations with the bandh supporters in some places. In Jorabagan area in the city, some BJP supporters were seen asking shop owners to pull their shutters down, but the shop owners remained unmoved despite the threats by the hooligans.