Bhubaneswar: The Congress has decided to go all-out to make Monday's Bharat bandh, which has been called to protest against the fuel price hike, a success.

While the Congress will observe shut down from 6am to 3pm, four Left parties, too, will observe "hartal" on Friday on the same issue.

Though the BJD has said that it would not support Monday's bandh, it staged protest in front of all the petrol pumps across the state during the last three days, which concluded on Sunday. BJD MLAs had stalled Assembly proceedings on Friday and marched to various petrol pumps in the city to register their protest.

BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty said the BJD would extend its tacit support to the Congress bandh on Monday. However, BJD spokesperson Samir Ranjan Dash said: "There is no question of supporting the Bharat Bandh."

Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said the bandh would be peaceful on Monday and emergency services such as ambulances and milk vans would be exempt from the shutdown.

"Bandh supporters will not obstruct the movement of patients and their relatives going to hospitals and students heading for exams," he said.

In view of the bandh, the state government has already declared a holiday for schools on Monday.

However, the government has asked its employees to reach office before 9.30am.

Director general of Police R.P. Sharma said adequate deployment of police would be made on Monday to maintain law and order during the bandh. People, however, remain apprehensive even though bandh supporters have promised that there would be no coercion.

Government and private buses will remain off the road during the bandh. "However, all long distance buses will ply on Monday night," said general secretary of All Odisha Private Bus Owners' Association Debendra Sahu.

City buses and auto-rickshaws will not ply on Monday, while bandh supporters are planning to block the movement of trains at various rail stations.

The four Left parties - CPI, CPM, CPI(ML)-Liberation and SUCI(Communist) - took out a torch rally on Sunday evening in support of their strike call and will picket at various traffic intersections on Monday, said CPI state secretary Dibakar Sahu.