Bengal protests rail fare hike

Kolkata, June 25 (IANS) Protests erupted in West Bengal Wednesday as the hiked passenger fares and freight charges of the Indian Railways imposed by the Narendra Modi-led government came into effect during the day.

The government raised the railway passenger fares by 14.2 percent in all classes and freight charge by 6.5 percent.

West Bengal Congress unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who led a rally in central Kolkata, said: "The fare hike was abnormal".

"We are also protesting against the price rise of essential commodities," he added.

Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) staged demonstrations at Purulia and Murshidabad railway stations, stalling train services briefly.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has criticised the hike and called for week-long agitations across the state, while the Communist Party of India-Marxists accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance regime in New Delhi of starting its journey by implementing "anti-people policies".