Fuel strike unites India opposition
Leftist and conservative political forces make common cause over fuel price increases.
Hundreds of thousands of people have gone on strike across India in protest at rise in fuel prices.
The Congress-led federal government deployed troops heavily to ensure security throughout the country on Monday.
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The widespread strike has forced the closures of roads and train services as well as the cancellations of many flights in some of the most populated areas of India.
Al Jazeera’s Prerna Suri, reporting from the north region of Jammu, said that an unlikely alliance of the right-wing opposition and leftist groups increased the effectiveness of the protest.
“Opposition leaders say this [fuel price rise] will add to the country’s already burgeoning inflation rates,” she said.