NEW DELHI: The Left parties, joined by regional forces like Samajwadi Party and Telugu Desam Party, on Tuesday staged street protests to demand the roll back of the fuel price hike as the Communists said the UPA government could not take their support for granted.
Barring states ruled by the Left and Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling Samajwadi Party's workers stopped many trains and blocked highways at several places, the protests had little impact.
Strikes by truckers against the price hike that coincided with the protests, however, affected transport services in Orissa, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh.
In Delhi, CPI-M leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury and CPI's A B Bardhan courted arrest at the Parliament Street police station with a large number of Left activists. Leaders from the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Janata Dal-Secular were also present.
They said the protest was meant to mount pressure on the government to reverse its "anti-people" decision and the issue would be raised in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting on Wednesday.
In West Bengal, the ruling Left Front organised sit-ins before the offices of oil PSUs.
Normal life in Kerala, another Left-ruled state, was paralysed by a dawn-to-dusk strike called by trade unions. Shops and business establishments remained closed while attendance in government offices was thin.
Over 5,000 Left activists, including CPI secretary D Raja, were taken into custody across Tamil Nadu when they tried to picket Central government offices and roads.
In Uttar Pradesh, train services were affected and minor incidents of violence reported during the strike against the price hike. Long-distance trains were stranded as Samajwadi Party workers squatted on the tracks and stray incidents of violence occurred when the protestors forcibly closed down shops and businesses, police said.
Samajwadi Party workers also blocked roads at several places in the state, including the busy Grand Trunk road and the Lucknow highway.
The Telugu Desam Party joined the CPI-M for the protests in Andhra Pradesh, holding protest rallies in Hyderabad and several district headquarters during which their workers courted arrest. The TDP chief and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu participated in a "cycle rally" with a large number of his party workers.
Left party workers in Madhya Pradesh staged protests, blocked roads and burnt effigies of the UPA government. In Bhopal, they shouted slogans against the Centre, terming the fuel price hike as "unwanted and irrational" and demanding its total roll back.
CPI and Samajwadi Party workers joined the demonstrations at Guna and Gwalior, where traffic was blocked by the protestors.
Left party workers in Punjab and Haryana staged demonstrations and blocked traffic at Bathinda, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur. The Punjab Truck Operators Union also held protest demonstrations against the fuel price hike.
The Left parties, joined by regional forces like Samajwadi Party and Telugu Desam Party, today staged street protests to demand the roll back of the fuel price hike as the Communists said the UPA Government could not take their support for granted. Barring states ruled by the Left and Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling Samajwadi Party's workers stopped many trains and blocked highways at several places, the protests had little impact. Strikes by truckers against the price hike that coincided with the protests, however, affected transport services in Orissa, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh.

In Delhi, CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury and CPI's A B Bardhan courted arrest at the Parliament Street police station with a large number of Left activists. Leaders from the Samajwadi Party,Rashtriya Lok Dal and Janata Dal-Secular were also present. They said the protest was meant to mount pressure on the government to reverse its "anti-people" decision and the issue would be raised in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting on Wednesday. 

In West Bengal, the ruling Left Front organised sit-ins before the offices of oil PSUs. Normal life in Kerala, another Left-ruled state, was paralysed by a dawn-to-dusk strike called by trade unions. Shops and business establishments remained closed while attendance in government offices was thin. Over 5,000 Left activists, including CPI Secretary D Raja, were taken into custody across Tamil Nadu when they tried to picket Central Government offices and roads.