Kolkata, July 18: The Congress tried hard to make Friday’s statewide bandh a success, but it needn’t have. For, the state administration gave them a virtual walkover. For bandh-loving political forces, the day confirmed that Bengal was the best place for a bandh.
Not a single betel shop or ambulance escaped the bandh enforcers. Even media vehicles were stopped, being allowed to go only on flashing press cards. The metro plied for an hour before bandh supporters forcibly stopped it. Even a feeble protest attracted unprintable abuse or assault.
In the districts, offices that defied the bandh faced punishment. Furniture was broken, computers damaged and office-goers heckled. At many places, Congress workers punctured tyres of vehicles carrying bureaucrats. Apprehending damage, transport minister Subhas Chakrabarty kept state-run buses off the roads.
Even police turned a blind eye to harassment by bandh-supporters. It was obvious that poll debacles had forced the Left Front into a shell. For the Congress, the bandh, called in protest against attacks on some MLAs by CPI(M) supporters in Mangalkot, was a prestige issue. They had to prove that they were powerful without the Trinamool.
Trinamool sources said party chief Mamata Banerjee lent “moral support” to the bandh because she wanted to send the message that all was well between her party and the Congress.
–Agencies