Hubballi: Autorickshaw drivers and owners here pulled their autos manually with ropes to protest the steep increase in the price of petrol, diesel and domestic gas and ‘auctioned’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Rs 40 and petrol for Rs 43 as the Mumbai Karnataka region observed a near total bandh on Monday . The auto drivers also burnt Mr Modi’s effigy while other protestors garlanded gas cylinders at the Sangolli Rayanna Circle.
Some Congressmen cooked food using firewood and raised slogans against the Union government. There was tension in Bagalkote and the twin cities of Huballi-Dharwad as Congress party workers tried to forcibly shut down some shops for the day . In Hubballi, protesters tried to ransack a restaurant when its owner refused to close for the day and there were some tense moments between Congress and BJP workers as the latter raised pro-Modi slogans.
The police had to rush to the spot to quell the trouble. Normal life was affected in several parts of the region as buses remained off the roads and schools and colleges declared a holiday. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party workers held a protest at a police station in Hubballi demanding the arrest of Janata Dal (Secular) members, including its city president Rajanna Koravi, for allegedly trying to barge into the office of MP Pralhad Joshi and abusing him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the bandh.
