06 July,2010 07:48 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
The opposition's show of strength didn't bring the national capital to its knees, but normal life was disrupted in the city BJP workers entered Metro stations in the garb of commuters
Burning issue: Though the Left parties had called for a separate bandh,
distancing themselves from the BJP, they weren't shying away from
making a point or two. Pic/Rajeev Tyagi
'u00a0600 crores in businessu00a0
' 1000 tokens of Metro railu00a0
' cellphone and wallet of MPu00a0
' 250 trains cancelledu00a0u00a0
' 100 flights disruptedu00a0u00a0
' Rs 13,000 crore lost in terms of GDPu00a0u00a0
' 6 lakh vehicles stayed off the roads in Delhi
People in the city have not extended their support to the bandh as they know the 'credibility level' of BJP in Delhi. I think the bandh was a flop. It hardly evoked any response.
-u00a0Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi
This bandh was called by the people, executed by the people, for the welfare of the people. Nobody forced it. The harder government will try to suppress it, the louder it will become.
-u00a0Vijender Gupta, president, Delhi BJP
Not just token-ism
The Delhi Metro lost 1,500 tokens to protesters who entered stations in the garb of commuters
The anti-inflation bandh in Delhi targeted the Delhi Metro, the first by any major disruption of normal life in the national capital.
About 1,500 BJP workers entered 12 different Metro stations across the city, including Rajiv Chowk, just like any other normal commuter would do. They bought tokens and reached the platforms peacefully, without dropping any hint to the CISF personnel that they meant trouble. After reaching the platforms, the protesters boarded the trains and squatted on the tracks, affecting the operations badly.
However, the CISF officials swung into action immediately and ensured that the Metro resumed operations soon. Though road transport was affected, especially during morning rush, ridership on the Metro remained normal. The network carried around 7.5 lakh passengers till 8 in the evening.u00a0
u00a0"We bought tokens in bulk and about 150 workers entered each station chosen for the protest. We had hid the party flags in our pockets wrapped in handkerchief," said a BJP worker.
The CISF officials brought out the protesters after detaining them but forgot to collect tokens from them. Though CISF officials remained tight-lipped about the loss, sources in the Delhi Metro said around 1,500 tokens were lost. The Delhi Metro reports theft of 400 tokens everyday. Every token costs around Rs 20.
Musical chairs
For nobody else does a chair and placement mean as much as a political leader. It is also well known that for second-rung leaders rallies and protests are a potential opportunity to score brownie points.
The scene on the dais set up opposite Town Hall was no different. Seated there were several councillors and workers and all prominent leaders of the BJP were finding it tough to get a foothold.
Wife of Sukhbir Singh Badal, Harsimrat Badal represented Akalis in the rally. She reached the spot around half and hour late. There was no space left for her on the dais. When she reached, Vijay Goel was speaking. She took Goel's seat and when the former union leader was through he went to sit at the place of Rajnath Singh who had to address the rally after Goel. Four people fell off the stage when the police detained them to be taken to the police station.
BJPu00a0leader's pocket picked
MP Chandan Mitra loses mobile phone
"Aam aadmi ki jeb kaat li hai is sarkaar ne," claimed some of the ring-leaders of Monday's anti-inflation protest.
Ironically, senior journalist and MP Dr Chandan Mitra experienced it literally when his pocket was picked while participating in the bandh at Chandni Chowk.
People privy to the incident told MiD DAY that it was not clear whether the MP got his pocked picked while addressing the protesters at the dais while being taken to the nearby police station after courting arrest. The police station was just 500 meters away from the venue.
"In the commotion while we were being taken to police station, I lost my mobile. Either somebody took it or fell. But I did not lose my wallet. I had left it in my car," Dr Mitra told MiD DAY.
