Students and guardians flock to the sole bookshop open on Rabindra Sarani, in north Calcutta, on Thursday to grab a copy of the ICSE booklist. The other shops in the area had downed their shutters in the VAT protest. Picture by Amit Datta

The traders continued their strike against value-added tax (VAT) into the second day, which also saw the government passing the VAT bill to usher in the new tax regime from April 1.

With both sides sticking to their stands, the consumer caught in the middle faces his toughest ask on Friday, the final day of the 72-hour strike, as everything apart from medicine shops and petrol pumps remain shut.

Finance minister Asim Dasgupta reiterated on Thursday that he was ready to discuss the issue with the traders if the strike was called off. But the traders? lobby did not budge. ?The trade bandh will continue on Friday,? stressed Mahesh Singhania, president, Federation of West Bengal Trade Associations.

According to Singhania, shops remained shut in all the 30 city municipal markets on Thursday as traders rallied around the association?s anti-VAT stand.

While traders are protesting VAT in various cities, the impact has been by far the highest in Calcutta. ?The wholesale market is affected everywhere, but here even the retail and unorganised sectors have been hit,? observed a senior member of a leading industry association, linking the total shutdown to the city?s bandh tradition.

Even as potato prices went up by Rs 2 a kg, onion prices rose by Rs 1.50 a kg and chicken became dearer by Rs 80 in some open pockets, first citizen Subrata Mukherjee voiced his support for the bandh: ?VAT will cause price escalation in the market.?