300 crore. That’s what some of our political parties ended up costing Mumbai. A city that doesn’t have adequate funds to complete crucial infrastructure projects, that doesn’t have adequate funds to fill manpower posts across various departments, that barely manages to keep its head above water (literally) when the monsoon shows up — this is the city that our politicians decided to shut down.

The answer to that question ‘What did they accomplish?’ continues to elude us all. The Shiv Sena and BJP have gone to town claiming complete support from citizens who were tired of the government’s inability to reign in rising prices. Our reporters, however, begged to differ. All they came across was people from all walks of life stranded at railway stations, outside examination halls, at airports and near hospitals. They didn’t look like they supported or disagreed with the purpose of any bandh. They looked like normal folk simply trying to get on with their lives.