Shimla, July 5 (IANS) Shops were closed in many parts of Himachal Pradesh Monday and road and rail services affected as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left party workers protested the recent fuel price hike. The shutdown passed off peacefully despite minor skirmishes in some towns.
‘There was no major incidence of violence in the state throughout the day. Some of the protesters were rounded up but later released,’ Inspector General (Law and Order) S.R. Mardi told IANS.
Police said road traffic was hit in Shimla, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Dharamsala, Kangra and Solan. In Shimla, schools and educational institutions were closed.
A train on the Shimla-Kalka track was also stopped as Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists protested.
‘A train on the way to Kalka from Shimla was stopped at 9 a.m. in the Summer Hill area (in Shimla) by the activists of the CPI-M. However, there was no damage to property and later traffic was restored,’ a railway official told IANS.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal reached the state Secretariat here on foot.
Cadres of the ruling BJP along with opposition parties enforced the shutdown in most districts of the state, forcing shops in most towns to down shutters.
Tikender Panwar, a state CPI-M leader, said: ‘The shutdown was complete in the state. We have expressed our resentment against the hike in petroleum prices.’
The central government ended government curbs on petroleum pricing and hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas. The price of diesel went up by Rs.2 a litre, kerosene by Rs.3 a litre, petrol by Rs.3.50 a litre, and cooking gas by Rs.35 per cylinder.
