Assam businessmen down shutters, opposes price hike

A country wide down to dusk strike sponsored by the Opposition National Democratic Alliance has paralyzed normal life from early in the morning on Friday. Shops and business establishments are down their shutters in response to the strike called in protest against the galloping price hike. The NDA leaders have already made it clear that all sops and business establishments will be remaining closed during the 12 hour long period and the vehicles will be plying normally. Also, offices and educational institutions will be running as usual.

The NDA has claimed that the UPA government had completely failed to tackle price rise and that the announcements made by finance minister P Chidambaram in Parliament to address the issue would not provide relief to the common man. They said inflation figures of the UPA government, on the basis of the wholesale price index (WPI), did not reflect the ground reality and demanded a separate price index of 50 essential commodities.