Normal life was partially affected in parts of West Bengal on Friday as supporters of Left parties tried to enforce a 12-hour bandh. In Kolkata and other districts, they disrupted railway and road movement and forcibly tried to close schools and shops.

The Left parties had called for the bandh to protest police action on students and youth wing members during a march to the State Secretariat on Thursday. Hundreds of Left supporters were injured in the violence when they tried to breach the barricades at Esplanade.

There were reports of stray incidents of supporters squatting on railway tracks. There were blockades on the railway tracks at Pandua in Hooghly district and Belghoria in North 24 Parganas. Train services were affected in Bongaon section of Eastern Railway.

In certain places, supporters gathered outside schools that were opening after a gap of 11 months due to COVID-19. The Left supporters tried to prevent reopening of schools in Chinsurah in Hooghly, Malda and Raiganj. The schools were allowed to function after police intervention.

There were also attempts by Left and Congress supporters to forcibly close shops in the city. At Entally in central Kolkata, Left supporters were seen threatening shopkeepers. Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty, who participated in a party rally in M.G. Road area, urged party supporters not to force people to close shops. Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Abdul Mannan said that the party will take action against those who forcibly tried to close shops.

The Congress, which is in an electoral understanding with the Left parties, participated in the bandh. Congress supporters blocked an arterial crossing at Moulali in central Kolkata. They squatted on the road and burnt tyres. Senior leaders of Left parties such as CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kant Mishra, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya and Mr. Mannan took out a rally in central parts of the city.

Despite stray incidents and scuffles, normal life remained largely unaffected in the State. Attendance in government offices, including the Secretariat, was normal. The State government issued a notification stating that absence from work on the day will be considered a dies-non break in service.