The call for ‘Bharat Bandh’ remained ineffective in most parts of the town with almost every shop found opened on Monday.
A visit by Cabinet Minister and local MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, along with his supporters, to the markets to enforce bandh remained futile. Shopkeepers at the Phase 3B2 market though pulled down the shutters of their shops when the Congress leader and his supporters arrived there, they rolled them up as soon as they left the place.
At markets in the town, the Congressmen raised slogans against the Centre for its failure in checking the fuel prices.
Training his guns at the Central government, Sidhu said fuel prices were going through the roof. “Diesel and petrol are now beyond the reach of the common man. The value of rupee against dollar is going down with every passing day while the Centre is in a deep slumber,” said Sidhu, adding that the Bharat Bandh call was getting good response in the country.
Meanwhile, a shopkeeper at the Phase VII market, said all shops were opened on Monday. “Though most of us (shopkeepers) are against the continuous increase in fuel prices, we could not afford to lose our business by keeping our shops closed even for a day for this reason,” he added.
