The daylong bandh to push the demand for special category status to Jharkhand brought the state to a standstill on Sunday. The bandh was led by the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) party, and supported by other opposition parties of the state.
Shops and business establishments remained shut while traffic on the roads and highways was negligible. Trains too bore the brunt of the bandh as at least 19 major trains were delayed by several hours. Ranchi roads were taken over by rallies as parties like AJSU, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Janata Dal (United) and Jharkhand Adivasi Moolvasi Morcha (JAMM) came together to protest.
The Congress in a press release called the bandh violent, alleging shops and public equipment had been vandalised. However, no major incident of violence was reported. Police detained around 700 bandh supporters across Jharkhand. In Ranchi alone, police detained 399 people, including former chief minister and JVM (P) chief Babulal Marandi and AJSU party chief Sudesh Mahto. AJSU party legislators Navin Jaiswal and KK Bhagat were also detained. All of them were released on personal bonds.
“The clarion call for special status was given by the AJSU party. In the past three months, we have formed human chains and done rallies across the state to push for our demand,” Mahto told the crowds at the rally.
{{/usCountry}}“The clarion call for special status was given by the AJSU party. In the past three months, we have formed human chains and done rallies across the state to push for our demand,” Mahto told the crowds at the rally.
{{/usCountry}}Marandi said, “The fight for special status is still in a nascent state. There will be more uproar in the future.” Around 1,000 police personnel and 40 magistrates and were deployed across Ranchi to keep a check on the protesters. In Dhanbad, around 200 protestors were detained by police.
Besides the rally, burning tyres were seen on the city roads. Traffic on the Grand Trunk Road was stalled for hours even as inter-district and inter-state buses remained off the roads.
Train movement on the Dhanbad-Howrah main line was disrupted. The Rajdhani Express was The Howrah Rajdhani Express was stopped for over half an hour in a chakka jam at the Dhanbad Railway Station.
In Bokaro too, all commercial establishments remained closed and transport services were disrupted. The situation was similar in Jamshedpur.