Train services and road traffic were disrupted at several places across Bihar during the bandh call given by the Opposition Rahstriya Janata Dal to protest the forceful eviction of Opposition legislators agitating against the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021, from the State Assembly on March 23.
The bandh call was supported by the Congress and the three Left parties, the CPI, CPM and CPI (Marxist-Leninist).
Bandh supporters blocked national highways and disrupted train movement at several places like Vaishali, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Aurangabad, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Siwan, Bhojpur and Patna.
CPI-ML supporters disrupted movement of vehicles on the Patna-Ara road. RJD leaders and supports blocked the Mahatma Gandhi Setu bridge, which connects Patna with north Bihar, for several hours causing a long traffic jam on the road.
“We’ve called for the bandh to protest the police brutality against Opposition members of the Assembly who were exercising their democratic right and agitating against the new Bihar police Bill. The police misconduct against the Assembly members, I believe, was not on the directions of the Speaker, but the Chief Minister,” alleged Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who was participating in the funeral of his uncle Mahavir Rai who died on March 25.
Opposition legislators had, earlier, demanded an apology from the Chief Minister. “Until he apologises, we may not attend assembly for the remaining tenure,” they said.
Business establishments and offices in Patna, however, remained open during the bandh amid heavy police deployment.
