Patna, Sept 10: A two-year-old girl in Jehanabad died on Monday while she was enroute the civil hospital as protesters had imposed a blockade. The bereaved parents claimed that their child could had been saved if the traffic movement had not been blocked. Bharat Bandh: Live Updates.

According to the deceased girl's father Pramod Jha, his daughter was reeling under fever since Sunday night. He claimed that the ambulance was unable to reach them due to the protests, which compelled him to procure an autorickshaw to go to the hospital.

Logjams in various parts of Bihar was witnessed earlier today as demonstrations were staged by workers of the Opposition parties, which had called a Bharat Bandh to oppose the spiralling fuel prices and weakening of the rupee against the US dollar.

Reacting to the death of the toddler in Jehanabad, Union Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress should be held responsible. "Will the Opposition be answerable for this? Their petty politics has claimed the life of an innocent child. I demand the Congress to give an answer," Prasad said.

SDO Jehanabad Paritosh Kumar, however, refuted the reports which blamed traffic for the infant's demise. "The death of the child is not related to bandh or traffic jam, the relatives had left late from their home," he told news agency ANI.

The bandh call was issued by the Congress and supported by 21 parties, including the Left Front, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and others. A march was taken out from Rajghat to Ramlila Maidan by senior leaders of the Opposition camp, led by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing a rally at the Ramlila Maidan, Gandhi said the Modi government should be uprooted in 2019 to save the interests of farmers, youth and the working class. "Fuel prices have gone off the roof, despite the crude oil valuing less than the UPA-era. Will Modi ji give an answer," he questioned.

Earlier, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said BJP regime "must be defeated in 2019 to end the misery" suffered by the common people. "Public is tired and angry, farmers are upset, youth is disturbed. There are no jobs," he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2018 12:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).