Bengal bandh on August 28: What’s open and what’s closed today?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a Bengal bandh for a 12-hour Bengal bandh, which began at 6 am on Wednesday. After BJP's appeal to organisations to keep markets closed, the West Bengal government asserted that life will remain normal, The Economic Times reported.

This development came after the 'Nabanna Abhiyaan' rally turned violent in Kolkata on Tuesday. As per reports, public transport services may be disrupted and the impact might be felt at private offices as well.

Check all Bengal Bandh Live Updates here

Despite the West Bengal Bandh call, government offices, banks, schools, colleges, and petrol pumps will most likely remain open. Furthermore, public transport including buses and rail services are expected to ply normally. Essential services like medical care, drinking water, and electricity will operate as usual.

Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the BJP President J P Nadda said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief has crossed all limits of "cruelty and dictatorship" in Bengal. “The violence and repression witnessed on the streets of West Bengal today by Mamata Banerjee's government and her brutal police against the doctors, youth and women of Bengal, who were demanding justice, is not only condemnable but also shameful for humanity,” ANI quoted JP Nadda as saying.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), JP Nadda stated, “The Trinamool government has crossed all limits of insensitivity. In the arrogance of power, they have trampled and tortured the people of Bengal who were fighting to protect the identity of women!”

The post further reads, “BJP has called for 'Bengal Bandh' … in protest against the brutality of Mamata government.”

The Paschim Banga Chatra Samaj' and other organisations conducted the protest march called "Nabanna Abhiyan" on Tuesday to protest against the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case. It began from the College Square in Kolkatta and culminated at the West Bengal Secretariat 'Nabanna.' The agitators also gathered at the Santragachi area in Howrah amid heightened security around the West Bengal state secretariat. However, the peaceful march later turned chaotic, with unruly scenes reported across the state capital.