Updated on
Summary
A dawn-to-dusk shutdown was called by regional party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), to protest rising prices of essential commodities, especially food prices, in India's eastern state of Bihar on Thursday. The statewide shutdown was supported by RJD's allies, like regional Lok Janshakti Party, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxists), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Party workers took to the streets in capital city Patna and burnt tyres and stopped the movement of vehicles. Although no incident of violence was reported from across the state, schools, shops and government offices remained closed in Patna in view of the shutdown. Party workers also blocked highways, rail tracks and bridges in other parts of the state. RJD, which is main opposition party in Bihar, was a main block of the previous federal ruling United Progressive Alliance till 2009, but lost prominence after the party's dismal performance in last year's general elections. The wholesale price index rose 7.3 percent in December from the previous year, its highest since November 2008, and accelerated from a 4.8 percent gain in November. The rise was driven by a near-20 percent jump in food prices, which rose on weak monsoon rains and flooding in parts of the country, but inflation in manufacturing products picked up to 5.2 percent from 4 percent in November, a sign that inflationary pressures were spreading to other sectors of the economy.
