Strike sees travel grind to a halt

Transport systems ground to a halt and businesses were closed on Monday in many parts of India following a one-day strike by the main opposition parties to protest at a government-imposed hike in fuel prices.

"Because of the obstruction caused by protesters, train services have been stopped in West Bengal state," said Samir Goswami, a railroad spokesman, in Calcutta, the state's capital. Flights were also halted at Calcutta's airport, which serves domestic and international destinations.

Train and air services were affected in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, where taxis went off the roads as protesters belonging to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena came out on the streets.

There was no major violence reported in the country, although there were some minor scuffles between demonstrators and police.

Demonstrators and police also clashed in Lucknow in northern Uttar Pradesh, where two Hindu nationalist leaders, Arun Jaitley and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, were detained by police, said Surendra Srivastava, a police spokesman.

Worst-hit were the states governed by communist groups and the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is seen as generally pro-market. Those states included Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Kerala states.

There were also some minor disturbances in New Delhi, though businesses and schools remained open.

The opposition called the day-long protest after the federal government refused to roll back the 6.7 percent hike in fuel prices announced 10 days ago.

The unpopular hike in fuel prices came as the government struggled to stem losses at state-run oil companies and tame the fiscal deficit while facing double digit inflation.

The government said the hike could save the state $5.2 billion (£3.4 billion) but exacerbate inflation by nearly a percentage point.