Shops and commercial establishment remained closed and private buses stayed off road; government offices functioned as usual.
Puducherry beach. (Creative Commons)
The AIADMK-sponsored day-long bandh in Puducherry to urge the Centre to grant statehood to the Union Territory on Wednesday, 28 December, resulted in most shops and establishments remaining closed.
Secretary of the Puducherry unit of AIADMK (East) A Anbalagan, who gave the call for the shutdown, was taken into custody along with his supporters at his office in the early hours of Wednesday.
Anbalagan had earlier said that statehood was “absolutely necessary” for Puducherry.
Privately-owned inter-state and intra-state buses went off the roads while state transport buses operated as usual. The Rajiv Gandhi bus terminal here remained forlorn with private operators not functioning.
Auto-rickshaws and Tempo Travellers did not ply as well. Hotels and jewellery shops remained shut in and around Puducherry. Vegetable shops and fish vendors suspended their business in most of the areas.
The police were deployed in strength at vantage points. Only two-wheelers could be seen on the main thoroughfares.
Government offices, however, functioned normally.
The police said around 300 people were taken into preventive custody.
While giving the call for a bandh earlier, Anbalagan had said that as a Union Territory, the elected government “was powerless and for each and every proposal relating to the development of Puducherry, the elected government was at the mercy of the Centre”.
He had stated that those opposing the bandh were not in favour of statehood for Puducherry.
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