Bharat bandh LIVE Updates: Opposition party Congress has called for a nationwide shutdown (Bharat bandh)  today to protest against the sharp rise in fuel prices and depreciation of rupee. Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders marched from Raj Ghat towards Ramlila Maidan as a part of the bandh.  The Bharat bandh is also being supported  by other opposition parties.  Congress  said  that 21 opposition parties are supporting the bandh, besides a number of chambers of commerce and traders' associations. The party has demanded that petrol and diesel be brought under the ambit of the GST.  It has also appealed party workers to maintain peace and not to associate with any violent protests. However at many places, imcluding Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra protesters resorted to vandalism and arson.

Top opposition party leaders like Sharad Pawar, M K Stalin and left leaders have openly extended their support for the call for shut down, while the Trinamool Congress has decided to stay away from the protest.

“High prices of petrol and diesel found no mention in the BJP's national executive meeting because they are not bothered about the pain of public," Congress spokesperson Surjewala said. Petrol and diesel prices set new records Sunday. According to the price notification issued by state fuel retailers, petrol price was raised by 12 paise per litre and diesel by  10 paise per litre on Sunday. The effect of the shutdown could be felt right from the morning in different states.

Bharat Bandh: Here are the latest updates



  • Former deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav blamed Jan Adhikar Party’s Pappu Yadav for the disorder during protests. Calling Pappu Yadav an agent of BJP, Tejashwi shifted the blame on him.  He said we believe in peaceful methods.


• See Pictures from the Bharat Bandh called by Congress and other Opposition parties on Monday - Petrol pumps, trains, buses vandalised during protest

  • Kerala: The strike called by the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress headed united opposition UDF has disrupted normal life in the state, as both public and private transport buses and auto rickshaws kept off the roads.

  • Arunachal Pradesh: In Arunachal Pradesh too, normal life was disrupted as all shops and business establishments including banks and education institutions remained shut, PTI reported.


 

  • Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reacts to the death of 2-year-old girl in Bihar: He said everyone has a right to protest but what is happening today? Petrol pumps and buses being set ablaze, putting to risk lives. A child died after an ambulance was stuck in the protests in Bihar's Jehanabad. Who is responsible?



On high prices of petrol, Prasad said: “Petrol prices should come down and we will find out a way for this. Citing international factors he said that the problem being faced by the people because of rising fuel prices were momentary and were caused by global factors. He said there is instability in Venezuela and there are sanctions imposed on Iran. .. consumption is more and production is not at par, therefore supply is limited. "We are standing with the people in their concern, but this is a problem whose solution is not in our hands," he said.
The Modi government has worked a lot to bring down inflation and has achieved success as well, Prasad said, adding that inflation was 10.4 per cent between 2009-14 of UPA rule and is now 4.7 per cent.


 

  • Bihar: Bharat Bandh takes an ugly turn, girl child loses life: In  a tragic fallout of the protests in Bihar, a girl child in Jehanabad died as she could not be taken to hospital on time because ambulance failed to reach amid the ongoing protests. The parents of the girl were trying to take her to hospital in an auto-rickshaw but before that the child died. However, SDO denied that the sick girl lost life because of the bandh. In Gaya too, an ambulance on way to pick up a patient, was allegedly made to stop by the protesters.


 



  • Rupee witnesses fresh dip:  Amid the ongoing protests over  fuel prices and depreciation of rupee, the Indian rupee recorded a fresh low of Rs 72.57 on Monday, against the previous close of 72.18 per US dollar.


 

  • Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi government during Bharat Bandh protest in New Delhi: While addressing the protest rally, Rahul Gandhi, lashed out at the BJP government for failing to deliver the promises made during the 2014 elections. He said: “What Modi Ji did in 4 years, could not be done in the past 70 years. The unprecedented hike in fuel prices and the dip in the value of rupee  is what he has done in these four years." He said that PM Modi used to criticise UPA government over inflation and high fuel rates, but in his own governance he has failed to address inflation. Petrol prices have breached the Rs 80 mark, while diesel is near 80. He said that PM becomes silent when it comes to the issues that people want to be addressed. Toilets have been constructed in the entire country, but they do not have water.





  • UP CM Yogi Adityanath reacts to Bharat Bandh: Frustrated opposition doesn't have any strategy and leadership,what else can be expected from them? I hope God gives them sense so they can differentiate between positive & negative otherwise in future they will even lose their position as opposition.



  • Akhilesh Yadav on Bharat Bandh: 'The BJP government is so proud of themselves that even today when the Opposition has called for a 'bandh' they have increased fuel price in some places. Government can even say that inflation will bring development'.





  • 58 protesters taken in custody : Altogether 58 congress activists were taken into custody today in Jharkhand for trying to enforce bandh. Leaders including Palamau district Congress President Jaias Ranjan Pathak was taken into custody.  The shutdown called by Congress in the state is being supported by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left parties.



  • Mumbai: MNS workers stop metro train in D N Nagar


 



  • Madhya Pradesh: Congress workers vandalise a petrol pump in Ujjain during protests





  • MNS workers in Mumbai forcefully shut down shops and establishments at Bharatmata Junction Naka, Parel




  • Loktantrik Janata Dal workers in Patna carry a motorbike on their shoulders to protest against fuel price hike. Workers of Jan Adhikar Party vandalised vehicles.




  • Former PM Manmohan Singh said: "Modi government has done a number of things that were not in the interest of the nation. The time to change this government will come soon"





  • President of Mumbai  Regional Congress Committee Sanjay Nirupam taken in custody while staging 'Rail Roko' protests at Andheri railway station against fuel price hike. He is taken to Andheri police station.






  • Delhi: Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh join the Congress-led bandh supported  by opposition parties to protest against fuel price hike.





  • Bengaluru: Schools and colleges have declared holiday today. Exams scheduled for September 10 are also postponed.


 

  • Congress workers protest in Raipur, Chhattisgarh





  • Delhi: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Yadav at bandh protest against fuel price hike





  • Congress begins Bharat bandh march from Raj Ghat to Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders are taking part in the protests against fuel price hike in India.


 Image: ANI

  • Congress president Rahul Gandhi who has returned from his Kailash Mansarovar Yatra offers holy water from Kailash at Mahatma Gandhi's Samadhi at Raj Ghat . Congress will begin their march shortly from Raj Ghat.

  • Gujarat: Traffic comes to a standstill in Gujarat as protesters burn tyres and stop buses in Bharuch.






  • Congress President Rahul Gandhi has reached New Delhi after his ten-day-long Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to take part in the bandh. He has arrived at Raj Ghat. Congress will begin march  from New Delhi's Raj Ghat shortly, to protest against the rising fuel prices and depreciation of rupee.


 





  • Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted about petrol prices rising even on the day of the nationwide protest against fuel price hike.





  • CPI(M) workers protest in Andhra Pradesh, Vijaywada.






  • Telangana: Congress workers hold protests in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district's Bhongir and Musheerabad bus depot in Hyderabad, against fuel price hike




  • In Karnataka the bus services of North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) aren't operational today.


 



  • In Odisha too, trains have been stopped by angry protesters.





  • Opposition parties in Bihar led the protests in many parts of the state . In Jehanabad, RJD student wing workers protested at Jehanabad Court railway station, causing several trains to stop.  In  Arrah, the workers of RJD and CPI (ML), blocked NH 30 Arrah- Patna main road, protesting against the government . Shops have been kept shut as a precautionary step. The effect of the shutdown is also felt in Mokama and Patna.


 

  • In West Bengal, although Mamta government has decided to keep away from the bandh and has made arrangements to prevent disruption of daily life, a mixed response to the bandh is being witnesses. Many shops are shut and schools have been closed as precaution.