Kolkata, Sep 10: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in West Bengal distributed sweets among shopkeepers who opened their shops on Monday despite a nationwide shutdown. According to a tweet by ANI, the BJP workers also gave sweets to drivers who drove their vehicles today in Howrah despite the Bandh called by the Congress and several other opposition parties.

The workers said that people know that fuel prices might have risen but prices of ration and vegetables did not as compared to 2013 when the Congress was in power. They said people have come out in government's support because they know that the Modi government is not to be blamed.

The Congress called the Bharat Bandh protest on Monday claiming that the Modi government was not doing enough to bring down the prices of petrol or diesel. The party had appealed to all the opposition parties to support the nation-wide strike call given by his party over rising fuel prices in the country.

Scores of leaders belonging to 21 political parties took part in ‘Bharat Bandh’ that was observed from 9 am to 3 pm. On Monday, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Modi’s silence over the rising fuel prices. While addressing the media during the Bharat Bandh protest in New Delhi, he said, "PM Modi has failed to deliver on the promises made to the country. The Rupee value has never been this weak in the past 70 years".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2018 08:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).