Mumbai: Normal life took a hit across the country on Monday due to the Bharat bandh call given by the united opposition against price rise, but the impact of the call was particularly visible in Mumbai, with the city grinding to a halt.
Transport was crippled as taxis and autos stayed off the roads. Offices and schools wore a deserted look.
The surprising element of the bandh was not its apparent success, but who gained from it all.
Originally billed as a trial of strength between the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), with each trying to mark its political turf, it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which stole the show through better preparation. The MNS was a virtual no-show in most places.
Halfway through the day it was clear that the BJP was best placed to claim “credit” for the bandh. While the Sena showed its muscle in the Marathi-dominated areas of Dadar and Parel, the BJP appeared more organised elsewhere. The party made up for its lack of ground-level strength with perfect strategy, feel political observers.
The BJP had asked its top officials to lead the protest in different regions. It succeeded in organising the protest in every tehsil, said a party leader. Top BJP leaders Gopinath Munde and Sudhir Mungantiwar were among the first to be detained during the protest in Andheri. Party workers were seen in large numbers at CP Tank, Ghatkopar, Mulund and Borivli, too.
The party had asked its general secretaries Vinod Tawde, Girish Mahajan and Devendra Phadnavis to camp in Nashik, Jalgaon and Nagpur respectively.
According to Tawde, “The division of work in BJP helped the top leadership to focus on their respective areas. The party ensured adequate manpower in every district and equipped then with party flags to create atmospherics.”
The Shiv Sena was dependent on seniors like Manohar Joshi, Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote to make its presence felt. It made its mark in Parel, Dadar, Goregaon, Jogeshwari and Borivli. The party did not need to make extra efforts to gets shops to close down in Dadar as the area is usually closed on Mondays.
Shiv Sena’s executive president Uddhav Thackeray said: “The success of the strike should be attributed to people’s participation.” Other sources in the Sena said they were not in competition with the BJP. “It is pointless to debate who had the edge.
The BJP is a national party and it had given the call under the leadership of Nitin Gadkari. So they had clear advantage.”
However, the Sena was more aggressive than the BJP in adjacent Thane. Shiv Sainiks under the leadership of Thane MLA Eknath Shinde stopped a local train at Thane station.
The MNS had announced plans to join the protest, but party workers were seen joining the protest only in Lalbaug and Dadar.
A political observer said that the MNS did not join the protest in full strength because they did not want to upset the ruling Congress-NCP, which had assured it will revoke the suspension of their four MLAs in the monsoon session of the state legislature.
State BJP chief Mungantiwar refused to take responsibility for the violence and damage done to public property.
“Those who are asking BJP to take responsibility for the damage should ask the NCP to take responsibility for the Miraj riots. If any BJP worker was engaged in the violence, the law will take its own course,” he said.
Gopinath Munde alleged that the state government was responsible for the damage. “We had decided to register the protest in a peaceful manner. But the state government detained our workers and incited them,” he said.
–Agencies–