RISING FOOD PRICES FOSTER STRIKES IN EAST INDIA

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000131 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAGR PGOV IN PTER SUBJECT: RISING FOOD PRICES FOSTER STRIKES IN EAST INDIA ¶1. (U) The Trinamul Congress (TMC) and the Socialist Unity Center of India - both part of the opposition in West Bengal -- called a 12-hour bandh (strike) on April 21 to protest rising food prices. Public dissatisfaction has been building up with recent reports that annual inflation has more than doubled in 2008 to reach a three-year high of 7.14 percent. A reported April 20 Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) attack on TMC leader Mamata Banerjee in the sensitive Nandigram area became an additional reason for the strike call. Banerjee declared that since the CPM is supporting India's ruling Congress Party at the federal level, both Congress and the CPM were responsible for the rise in prices. ¶2. (U) The strike impacted multiple sectors. The State Election Commission extended the last date for the withdrawal of nominations for the upcoming local elections (scheduled in May) by a day. Calcutta University rescheduled examinations for 40,000 students due to the strike. Traffic on the streets was sparse and train services from Howrah and Sealdah stations were disrupted, with a number of trains cancelled in the morning as bandh supporters blocked railway lines. Attendance in offices was low overall, although the IT Sector in Sector V of Salt Lake reported regular attendance of employees. No major violence occurred and Banerjee called off the strike two hours early. ¶3. (U) Press reported that on April 19 Maoists in Jharkhand killed two people by firing at trucks on a highway during protests against rising food prices. The attack occurred in Jharkhand's Seraikela Kharsawan district. One truck plunged into a roadside ditch and the Maoists set it on fire. The Maoists had called for strikes in Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal to protest inflation. JARDINE