NEW DELHI: The nation-wide bandh called by 13 non-NDA and non-UPA parties on Tuesday to protest against price rise paralysed normal life and hit air and rail services in Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala while it evoked a partial response in some states.

The 12-hour ‘Bharat Bandh’ that ended at 6 p.m. had some impact in Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. Normalcy prevailed in Delhi and in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu barring sporadic protests.
Besides the four Left parties, the 13-party grouping which gave the call for the bandh consists of AIADMK, BJD, SP, RJD, TDP, RLD, LJP, JD-S and INLD. The grouping is pressing for a rollback in the hike in prices of petrol, diesel and fertiliser.
Roads in West Bengal and Kerala where educational institutions and offices were closed wore a deserted look. Thousands of arriving passengers at airports and trains were stranded till evening and faced hardship.
More than 4,000 bandh supporters, including the LJP president, Mr Ramvilas Paswan and other opposition leaders, were rounded up in Bihar.
Hundreds of outstation passengers coming to Kerala as well as domestic commuters were caught unawares as the protesters picketed trains in various stations including at the entry points like Palakkad and Kasargode leading to late running of long-distance trains upto two hours.
The police said 29 cases of train picketing had been reported in Kerala.
A CPI-M statement claimed that the call given for a countrywide hartal against price rise met with a “big response” in most parts of the country.
Rail services were disrupted in many parts of Uttar Pradesh and three buses torched in Lucknow. The SP chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son and MP, Mr Akhilesh Yadav was detained in Lucknow while leading protestors.
Two train passengers were injured as a clash broke out between travellers in Ganga Sagar Express and bandh supporters at Pandua station in Hoogly district.
In West Bengal, road and rail services and flight operations were badly affected and shutters in commercial areas were down. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at railway stations and airports for want of transport.
Airport sources in Kolkata said only ten out of 25 domestic and international flights took off on Tuesday morning. They included flights of Air-India, Jet Airways and Jetlite.
An Eastern Railway spokesperson told PTI that due obstructions put up by bandh supporters at several stations, train services were disrupted at Howrah and Sealdah division. Long-distance trains were stranded at various stations as bandh supporters sat on the railway tracks.
Vehicular movement was affected across BJD-ruled Orissa as bandh supporters blocked national highways, state highways and other roads, putting a halt to plying of passenger buses, trucks, taxis and auto-rickshaws, police sources said.
Rail services were also affected as trains were stopped at different stations for a brief period, they said.
Normal life in several parts of Jharkhand was affected due to the bandh and the 48-hour shutdown by the CPI-Maoist.