Hills largely unaffected by Bengal Bandh call

DARJEELING,: Marginal response was seen here in the hills to the 12-hour West Bengal bandh called by the BJP on Wednesday to protest the clashes between the police and protestors in a march to Nabanna on Tuesday.

Normal movement of vehicles were seen from morning but shops remained closed in the morning hours in Darjeeling and Kalimpong only to open after some hours. Kurseong, on the other hand, remained open right from the morning.

Tension was felt in Kalimpong for some time in the morning with an altercation seen between supporters of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and the BJP. Most shops in Kalimpong town were seen closed till 11 am with BJP leaders also seen appealing to people to keep it shut.

However, BGPM supporters came out to ask people to open their shops following which they remained open. An exchange of words took place between the supporters of both the political outfits at Damber Chowk with them dispersing shortly after the intervention of the police.

In Kalimpong, BJP leader Subha Pradhan said, “Many are saying that this strike is BJP versus TMC party but that is not the case, but this is against the injustice against a woman. The State government should not have tried to hide it or save the culprits this day would not have come. We want such an incident does not repeat.”

The clash at Kolkata on Tuesday, was a result of the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’, a march to the secretariat there organized to demand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation for mishandling the case related to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

In Darjeeling, shops closed early morning on the appeal of BJP cadres who claimed that they were letting the people know of the bandh today as they could not inform them properly on Tuesday. The bandh was however short lived after BGPM supporters came out in the streets asking people to open their shops. However, a few taxi syndicates were not seen open today.

“Darjeeling was open in the morning but about 8 to 10 BJP cadres forcibly closed down the shops. Being scared the shopkeepers closed their shops and got confused about what to do. They did not even know what the strike was about. We only went to the people and gave them assurances that they do not have to get scared of anyone,” said BGPM leader Alok Kanta Mani Thulung in Darjeeling.

On the other hand, Kurseong was open from early morning with no picketing seen to be done by any political party.