Despite the efforts of Citu (the CPI(M)’s trade union wing) to make people’s life a little easier by keeping train services and shops and markets in Muslim-dominated areas outside the purview of the 24 hour general strike, the shutdown in the state was complete. Buoyed by the bandh’s success, the Communist parties are now planning to lay a siege of Parliament early in 2011.
Describing the strike as a “total success”, Citu state secretary Kali Ghosh said, “If the workers’ demands are not met even after this strike, we will organise an all India agitation in front of the Parliament.” Trinamul Congress leader Partha Chatterjee, however, claimed that the people had rejected what he described as a politically motivated and state-sponsored bandh.
Although Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had threatened to actively oppose the bandh, there was no major showdown between the workers of Trinamul Congress and CPI(M). Barring a couple of minor incidents of scuffles, there were no reports of any major violence. In Nanoor, a Trinamul Congress workers was shot dead allegedly by CPI(M) supporters but it was a fallout of a turf war and had no connection with the strike. In Baranagar in North 24 Parganas, the workers of the two parties clashed over opening of shops. Altogether, 1,238 Trinamul Congress supporters were arrested for staging demonstration against the strike in front of Howrah district magistrate office and the state secretariat: Writers’ Buildings.
Salt Lake Sector V, the IT hub of the eastern India, wore a deserted look. While most of the IT companies kept their facilities closed, the ITeS companies which run call centres, BPOs and KPOs managed their operations on a skeleton workforce. The strike left its impact in the Barrackpur industrial belt. However, in Haldia many industrial units remained open. The activities in the tea gardens in North Bengal were almost normal. Although the suburban train services were normal in both Howrah and Sealdah divisions, the flight operations at the Kolkata airport were badly affected. Except Air India, the private airlines cancelled most of their flights. Out of the 24 flights scheduled to operate from the city, Air India along with Air India Express and Alliance Air operated as many as 22. However, inbound passengers suffered a lot after arriving due to the unavailability of adequate number of taxis. The Writers’ Buildings wore a deserted look as only around 50 employees reported for work. While chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present, no other minister turned up.