Party workers stop a biker during Bharat Bandh at Jayadev Vihar in Bhubaneswar.
Normal life was completely paralysed in Odisha as Congress-led opposition held protest marches, blocked roads and railways as part of the nationwide Bharat Bandh demonstrations against the steep rise in petrol and diesel prices on Monday.
Many shops across the state were closed as a result of the Bandh as well.
Congress workers blocked railway tracks and trains in many places, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Keonjhar, Khurda Road, Paradip, Balasore and Bhadrak, to enforce the shutdown from 6 am to 3 pm.
Trains were halted and cancelled leaving large number of passengers stranded at railway stations in different places.
Examinations of all professional courses scheduled today by Biju Patnaik University of Technology were suspended. Schools and colleges also remained closed.
Buses, taxis, private cars, autorickshaws were kept off the roads as Congress workers squatted on railway tracks and burned tyres.
The Odisha unit of Congress described the bandh has a "complete success" in the state. President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik said people extended their spontaneous support to the strike as they are hit hard by the hike in the prices of petroleum products.
A large number of tourists were also hit as supporters locked the ticket counter of the famous Sun Temple.
Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) also staged protests in front of the offices of oil marketing companies and petrol pump outlets.
(With inputs from PTI)