Title - Bharat bandh over FDI in retail, diesel price hike: Trains stopped in Bihar, UP, Mumbai unaffected

New Delhi: The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and several other opposition parties have called a nationwide bandh today to protest against the reform measures announced by the government last week. Nearly five crore traders and 25,000 trade associations are also likely to participate in this protest demanding rollback of Foreign Direct Investment or FDI in multi-brand retail. Schools, colleges, markets and transport services are likely to be affected in most states. But Mumbai is likely to remain unaffected due to Ganesh Chaturthi festivities.The protests against the reforms began early this morning in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Workers belonging to BJP's Yuva Morcha blocked three trains at Patna railway station and in Darbhanga, CPI(ML) workers stopped the Ganga Sagar Express. In Allahabad, Samajwadi Party workers staged demonstrations on railway tracks. There are also reports of trains being stopped in Bhubaneswar in Odisha.In the national capital, public transport is running smoothly so far. Metro trains are also on time. Karnataka meanwhile has seen partial effect of the bandh call so far. While buses are off the road, autos are plying.  Trains are also running on time. There have been no protests so far.Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra is likely to be unaffected by the bandh call due to Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. Both the MNS and the Shiv Sena and even the BJP have said that they will not enforce the nationwide strike in the state because of the ongoing festival. While MNS supports FDI in retail, BJP and Shiv Sena are opposed to it. So public transport, malls, super markets all other services are likely to function normally. Schools and colleges also will stay open.Taking some politically tough decisions last week, the government had hiked the price of diesel by Rs. 5 per litre, capped the supply of subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders to six per household and cleared 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment or FDI in multi-brand retail - reforms, which saw its biggest ally, Mamata Banerjee, pull out of the UPA. The opposition has called for the bandh to protest against these reform measures.Today's strike against these new policies has won the support of parties ranging from the Left to the BJP, and crucially, Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party is now key for the government's survival. The Samajwadi Party, which has 22 MPs and was for long considered the Congress' Plan B if Mamata Banerjee ditched the UPA, has been playing hard to get. The SP has been vehemently opposed to FDI in retail and has told the UPA that it cannot take its support for granted. "Let the Congress be enlightened," he said yesterday, of the political situation, "that it has to give people more than corruption and rising prices." However, sources say the Samajwadi Party may not be willing to dump the Congress just yet.For the last two weeks Mr Yadav has made scathing attacks on the Congress, and has been urging his party to prep for mid-term polls - a strategy aimed at proving to the centre that it needs to keep him happy. But the Congress has appeared relatively sanguine that he will not rock the UPA boat. Mulayam Singh Yadav, say sources, might well continue the current arrangement with the Centre if only to ensure that the Congress' decline does not strengthen the BJP. Through his criticism of the Congress, Mr Yadav has repeatedly said that his support is designed to keep "communal forces" out.  The SP reportedly fears that if the UPA government fails, a stronger BJP will project Narendra Modi as its leader and candidate for Prime Minister. To keep that from happening, the party could use the secular card to bail the Congress out if Mamata Banerjee makes good on her threat and her six ministers duly resign tomorrow.Meanwhile, the Left Front will also be holding a 12-hour strike in West Bengal to oppose the Centre's new reforms. "The government is making a false claim that oil companies are facing losses. ONGC, Bharat petroleum, Hindustan petroleum are making profits and not losses. So, there is no reason for increase in the prices of oil. This will increase inflation and prices of all commodities," CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said yesterday.Meanwhile, coming as a huge relief to the UPA, which is now in a minority in Parliament after the Trinamool Congress announced it was exiting the Congress-led ruling coalition, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has said it will not participate in the nation-wide strike even though the party opposes FDI in retail. The Congress is now looking at the BSP, which supports the UPA from outside, as its best bet to make up the numbers it needs to survive. The BSP has 21 MPs, two more than the Trinamool Congress.The DMK, a member of the UPA with 18 MPs, has said it remains with the government, though it will participate in nationwide protest against FDI in retail, and the new diesel prices. Sources in the Southern party say that the DMK has decided "not to embarrass the UPA" and that its course will not be affected by Ms Banerjee's pull-out.Though the policy to allow 51 per cent FDI was cleared first in November by the cabinet, it was shelved after Ms Banerjee threatened to pull out of the UPA. Sources say that last Friday, when the cabinet decided to implement the reforms, many senior ministers were also caught off-guard. The policy had not been listed in notes circulated before the meeting. Though Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had a phone conversation with Ms Banerjee the night before, he did not refer to FDI in retail. The government had informed other allies Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, and TR Baalu about its plans - allies who it was confident would not block the reform.The new reforms, designed to revive a sluggish economy, means global firms such as Wal-Mart can set up shop with a local partner and sell directly to consumers for the first time. Like the Left and the BJP, Ms Banerjee had argued that the entry of international super-markets will put thousands of corner shops and farmers out of business.