Traders down shutters in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The trading community downed shutters of shops and commercial establishments Thursday, but Mumbai suburban trains, BEST buses, public transport and flights operated normally during the opposition-sponsored all-India shutdown, officials here said.

The shutdown call was given by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and supported by various parties like Samajwadi Party, JD(U), SAD, TDP, Left parties, transporters and others, to protest the hike in diesel prices, a cap on subsidised cooking gas cylinders and allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

However, the National Democratic Alliance’s key ally in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena has not joined the shutdown, while the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also opted out on grounds of the ongoing 10-day Ganeshotsav festival.

The BJP Pune unit also refrained from joining the shutdown on account of Ganeshotsav and the Jain festival of Paryushan.

Adopting an aggressive stance vis-a-vis government policies, the BJP, led by senior leader Gopinath Munde and others will attempt to ‘lock’ the gates of Mantralaya, the state government headquarters, at Nariman Point later in the day.

Spokespersons for the Mumbai International Airport Ltd, Air India and the railways said that all operations were normal with no disruptions of any sort due to the shutdown.

There has been no impact of the shutdown barring some pockets in the state where the BJP has influence.

In Vidarbha, the shutdown impact was seen only among the small traders and shopkeepers opposing FDI in retail. Otherwise normal life was not affected.

Police have deployed tight security all over the state to ward off any untoward incidents in view of the shutdown.

Anti-government protest marches and rallies have been planned in different parts of the state later in the day.