Spontaneous demonstrations by NCP activists erupted in Maharashtra in protest against the attack on party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday, while a bandh call has been given in Pune, Kolhapur and Satara.
Spontaneous demonstrations by NCP activists erupted in Maharashtra in protest against the attack on party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday, while a bandh call has been given in Pune, Kolhapur and Satara.
NCP leaders and activists have called for a bandh in Pune on Friday to condemn the attack. NCP leader Vandana Chavan said shopkeepers on their own should keep shops shut on Friday to protest against the attack.
Chavan and Rajpal led a march from the Pune Municipal Corporation office to the party office on Tilak Road. Party activists resorted to rasta roko at Swargate. Window panes and wind shields of at least 10 buses of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) were damaged. Incidences of stone pelting on PMPML buses took place on Sinhgad Road, Hadapsar, Vaiduwadi, Sanaswadi, Balajinagar, Laxmi Road and Hinjewadi etc.
Protesters hit E-way
Rasta rokos were held by NCP activists on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway and state highways to Ahmednagar, Bangalaore, Nashik and Solapur throughout the day blocking the traffic. The Pune-Mumbai Expressway saw a massive traffic jam for about half an hour. The traffic was cleared only after the police intervened. Similar incidents were witnessed on the Pune-Nashik Highway, old Pune-Mumbai Highway, Pune-Solapur Road and other highways.
Baramati shocked
Shocked and stunned by the attack on Pawar, angry residents of the NCP chief’s native Baramati shut shops and held demonstrations. They have called for a total bandh on Friday. The weekly Baramati vegetable market was shut down, schools and colleges were closed and students sent home while the main business streets of the town began wearing a deserted look by mid-afternoon.
NCP activists staged a rail roko on the Pune-Baramati railway line for half-an-hour, delaying three trains in the process. Protest marches were also conducted while state highways touching Baramati at different points were also blocked. The police took preemptive measures and stepped up bandobast in the area. No major incident of violence was reported.
Sikhs targeted
As soon as the news of attack on Pawar reached NCP stronghold of Kolhapur and Satara, party workers staged demonstrations and called for a bandh. A Sikh youth, who was selling household utensils near the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, was beaten up badly by NCP activists. However, he managed to save his life. In Satara, four trucks belonging to Sikhs were stoned. In Sangli, a bandh has been called on Friday. The activists stoned showrooms and vehicles. In Sangli, the activists burn the effigy of the attacker.
In Nashik, hundreds of NCP activists came out on the streets in protest against the attack on Pawar. Rasta roko, tyre burning and stoning of vehicles were reported.
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