General strike passes off peacefully in Puducherry
With political parties in the INDIA bloc extending support to the general strike in Puducherry, most of the business establishments on Jawaharlal Nehru Street, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Anna Salai, Kamaraj Salai, Maraimalaiadigal Salai, S.V. Patel Salai and Bussy Street remained closed.
While private buses and autorickshaws kept off the roads, the Puducherry Road Transport Corporation operated a few services, though commuters were sparse. The main shopping establishments, including Goubert Market remained closed all through the day. However, meat shops, fuel outlets, pharmacies and some provision shops in the town and suburban areas functioned as usual. Besides, many liquor outlets in the town, including those functioning near the New Bus Stand, were open.
Court arrest
Hundreds of workers, including senior leaders of Congress, DMK and Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) courted arrest while taking out a protest march near the New Bus Stand. They raised slogans against the BJP government at the Centre for anti-working class policy initiatives. Those arrested, include former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, Member of Parliament and PCC chief V. Vaithilingam, Opposition leader R. Siva, CPI secretary A. M. Saleem and CPI(M) secretary S. Ramachandran.
AIADMK to complain to MHA
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday said the party would complain to the Ministry of Home Affairs about the failure of the district administration and the Police department to act against the bandh supporters.
'The Union Territory is run by the BJP and we [AIADMK] are having an alliance with the party. Despite being in the alliance, our party leaders were taken into custody when the AIADMK had called for a strike on Statehood sometime ago. However, when the Opposition INDIA bloc called for a bandh in Puducherry, the administration failed to act against the people who broke the law despite us having given a complaint to the DGP. The Puducherry administration is sympathetic towards the Congress and the DMK,' he said.
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