By IANS,
Panaji: The shutdown against the hike in petroleum prices was a near total success in Goa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday said.
Addressing reporters in Panaji, state BJP president Laxmikant Parsenkar said that barring two incidents where two BJP activists were arrested in Ponda, north Goa, the bandh was peaceful, but overwhelming.
“The bandh was near total and unprecedented. People voluntarily participated in the bandh. This is an emphatic statement against the anti-people policies of the government,” Parsenkar said.
State Congress president Subhash Shirodkar was not available for comment.
The bandh in Goa was all the more effective because a local bus owners association also took their buses off the roads demanding a hike in bus fares.
Earlier in the day, markets were shut, schools were empty and roads were deserted across both rural and urban areas in Goa.
District administration officials said incidents of stone pelting were reported at two places, including stoning of two buses belonging to the government-run Kadamba Transport Corporation by unknown individuals. No one was reported injured.
In another incident, state president of the fledgling Shiv Sena in Goa was arrested for deflating tyres of a truck near Assnora, a small town in north Goa, 25 km from here.
The call for the shutdown has been given by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the Left parties.