MUMBAI
The saffron organisations — the Shiv Pratishthan, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party — had called for a day-long bandh in Sangli and Miraj, but failed to gather momentum in Miraj town.
A day-long bandh called by Hindutva organisations to condemn the removal of Dadoji Konddev’s statue from Lal Mahal in Pune, evoked a good response in Sangli, but failed to gather momentum in Miraj town on Wednesday.
The saffron organisations — the Shiv Pratishthan, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party — had called for a day-long bandh in Sangli and Miraj. Essential services like petrol pumps,
medicine shops and public transport were exempted.
The bandh evoked a good response in Sangli, where busy areas like Maruti Chowk, the campus of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, Saraf Katta, Harbhat Road, Ganpati Peth and City Post Road wore a deserted look as traders preferred to keep the shutters down.
However, the bandh evoked a poor response in Miraj.
Saffron activists led by BJP MLA Sambhaji Pawar, deputy mayor Shekhar Inamdar, Shiv Partishthan activists Hanmant Pawar and Shiv Sena district president Bajrang Patil took out a rally in the city condemning the removal of the statue.
The activists demanded immediate reinstallation of Konddev’s statue in Lal Mahal and the resignation of the home minister, RR Patil. The police had detained 25 activists as a precautionary measure.