Trains hit, roads blocked in Bihar shutdown

Hundreds of ruling JD-U workers Sunday disrupted train services and blocked roads at many places to enforce a statewide shutdown to press for a special status for Bihar.

Police said Janata Dal (United) supporters halted over half a dozen long-distance trains, and as a result, passengers were stranded at Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Bhagalpur, Nalanda and Darbhanga railway stations.

Buses, trucks and other vehicles kept off the roads.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called for a dawn-to-dusk shutdown and is expected to hit the streets Sunday before holding a dharna at the Gandhi Maidan here.

He said the central government of deliberately denying the special category status to Bihar, but Seemandhara -- the residual state of Andhra Pradesh -- was granted the same within days of turmoil in parliament over Telangana.

"It was a betrayal of the people of Bihar by the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government," Kumar said.

He said the special status was essential for the development of an economically backward state like Bihar.

"We will take the special status one day," he reiterated.