RJD’s Bihar Bandh call evokes mixed response

Speed Post News Network

Patna : The Bihar Bandh call given by the RJD on December 21, 2017, in protest against the Sand and Stonechips sales policy of Nitish government evoked mixed response on December 21. The offices of Bihar government, constituent colleges and government schools and banks remained opened.

The Bandh supporters disrupted road and railway traffic at various places across the state including the state capital Patna, Vaishali and Muzaffarpur districts. Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Yadav, his brother and former Minister Tej Pratap Yadav, state RJD President Ramchandra Purbey and former union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh were seen moving on the roads including Dak Bungalow roundabout, Patna, and addressing the bandh supporters on the occasion. Nandlal Chhapra bypass in Patna witnessed blockade for few hours.

The bandh supporters tried to disrupt road traffic in the morning and forced vendors to close their shops in several districts. At Patna, the bandh evoked mixed response as many commercial establishments remained open but downed shutters for brief periods during visits by RJD supporters.
Senior RJD leaders including MLAs Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav and Bhola Yadav, were detained at the Dak Bungalow Road crossing when they were staging a demonstration atop a tractor, according to a  senior police officer said. They were taken to Kotwali police station nearby and let off a couple of hours later after they signed bonds, he added.

The RJD leaders have been accusing the state government of putting restrictions on sand mining. The party claimed that construction activities have come to a standstill in the state and thousands of workers have been rendered jobless due to the restrictions.
The party had, however, kept the Patna City and the bypass area out of the bandh purview to avoid causing inconvenience to the Sikh pilgrims who had converged in the area to attend the “Shukrana” (thanksgiving) ceremony as part of the 350th Prakash Parv (birth anniversary) celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh. But, despite pleas by the senior RJD leaders to allow free movement of emergency services during the bandh, ambulances were seen stranded in traffic jams here.
The bandh supporters blocked road traffic in Begusarai, Aurangabad, Samastipur and Siwan. In Maner, on the outskirts of Patna, led by RJD MLA Bhai Virendra, party workers   burnt tyres on the highway disrupting movement of vehicles on the busy Patna-Ara road for several hours.
The bandh drew flak from the state NDA government. Road Construction Department Minister and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said, “The behaviour of RJD activists reminded everybody of the lawlessness that prevail in the state whenever the party has been in power.”