While government bus services continued unaffected during the bandh in Kolkata, traffic was otherwise light. (Press Trust of India)
Transport unions and workers went on a strike across the country on Thursday, but in West Bengal, this took a back seat. The CPM and the BJP separately organised a bandh against what they claimed was violence by Trinamool cadre during the recent civic polls. The bandh turned into a direct face-off between the ruling Trinamool on the one hand and the CPM and BJP on the other, with the opposition vying to make an impact and the government attempting to blunt it.
Sporadic violence also broke out at different places across the state, especially in Burdwan District's Asansol and Behrampore in Murshidabad District. Police lathi-charged clashing groups of activists from Trinamool, CPM and BJP.
Government buses continued to run, in keeping with the resolve of the government, which had issued a circular saying government employees who were not present at work would lose a day's pay. But traffic was thin otherwise.
This turned out to be a boon of sorts for students who had exams scheduled through the day, after days of uncertainty over whether the exams would be postponed and how to get to the venue if they were not.
"The destructive stop-work culture has to go. Bengal should be full of work. That is what we support for the future," said Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nadia, even as the bandh was underway.
However, the CPM and the BJP were in no frame of mind to agree. "This is a people's bandh. The people have sent a warning to TMC that they will not tolerate the Trinamool's undemocratic acts," said the BJP's Rahul Sinha.
CPM's Biman Bose said, "People have fully supported this strike."
Between the opposition claiming that the bandh was a huge success and the government declaring it a failure, some on both sides of the political divide agreed that it was 'fifty-fifty'.