Title - If they stayed home, it was thanks to Ganesh

PANAJI/VASCO/PONDA: The call for Bharat bandh to protest the diesel hike and other UPA government decisions evoked a lukewarm response in Goa, as it ran into the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at its peak time. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and workers kept away from it.No protesters were seen and heard shouting slogans or waving banners, as their counterparts did elsewhere.Though the capital and other towns wore a quieter look than usual, the serenity had more to do with the two-day holiday declared by the state government for its employees, than with the bandh call. Central government offices were open, but attendance was poor. Interstate buses departed late in the evening, but several buses, especially those owned by Kadamba transport corporation, were seen plying.The all India trade union congress (AITUC) and the communist party of India had expressed their support to the bandh. BJP workers, though, adopted a passive role. "Everybody is in a festive mood during the festival, and Thursday was a day for visarjan (immersion of Ganesh idols). It is a special and deeply religious occasion," Govind Parvatkar, a BJP spokesman, said.In Vasco, many commercial establishments remained open on Thursday. The authorities at the Dabolim airport said that all flights arrived and left on schedule. Some commuters had arrived much earlier at the city's railway station as a precaution.

Allen D'Sa, South Goa SP, said, "for Chaturthi as well as for the bandh, almost 300 policemen were deployed in Mormugao taluka, but no untoward incident was reported."

In Ponda, as elsewhere in the state, it was a 'self observed bandh' across the taluka. Private buses were off the road, as is usual during the festival.