Many flights were canceled and streets emptied in response to the strike called by the main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the leftist bloc as the ruling Congress party attempts to push ahead with key reforms in Asia's third-largest economy.

The response to the strike was mixed, with a total shutdown in opposition-ruled states but business mostly normal in Congress-ruled regions.

Businesses were largely shut in financial capital Mumbai while in eastern West Bengal state, a communist bastion, supporters marched on the streets to protest the freeing up of state-subsidised petrol prices late last month and the raising of prices of other fuels that may exacerbate double-digit inflation.

The IT-hub of Bangalore in BJP-ruled Karnataka state was practically shut down, with most software firms closed.

In Congress-ruled capital New Delhi, morning traffic was heavy and shops remained open, though there were reports of brief disruptions in the underground train service.

"The government claims it is working for the common man but it clearly doesn't care for them," said D. Raja, leader of the Communist Party of India. "Price rise is the single biggest burning issue affecting all sections of the society."

The Congress-led government retained power last year largely on a social spending-driven agenda but says now it needs to curb costly subsidies to stay on target of reducing the fiscal deficit to 5.5 percent in 2010/11, even at the risk of angering some of its allies which opposed the fuel price hike.

Fuel subsidies in the year ending March 2010 were roughly 1 percent of GDP.
 

The fuel hike helped prompt the central bank on Friday to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, nearly a month ahead of a scheduled policy review.

Signalling the government's resolve, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday there was no question of rolling back the hike in fuel prices.

The government has the tacit support of its parliamentary allies. Some face state elections in coming months and have to be seen as publicly opposing the fuel price hike, which will add nearly one percentage point to headline inflation now at 10.16 percent.

But the allies will continue to support the government despite their vocal criticism of high inflation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has struggled with other reforms such as opening up the insurance and banking sectors and a civilian nuclear liability deal due to strong opposition in parliament, including Congress party allies.

More disruption over bills may be seen in the next parliamentary session starting on July 26. But so far inflation is not translating into mass spontaneous protests that could destablise the government.

"Today's strike is not going to deter the government from pushing its reform agenda," political commentator Amulya Ganguli said.

"For the opposition it is more an exercise to boost the morale of its cadre and mobilise it to do something instead of sitting idly ... People today realize it's not possible to keep on subsidising."

The national truckers' union said more than 600,000 trucks would stay off the roads.

Airports in Mumbai and Delhi were open, but some flights were canceled in response to low passenger loads, a spokesman said.

For Chandra Bai, a domestic helper in Mumbai, the strike was not quite the show of support for the common man that the opposition claimed it is:

"On one hand, all prices have sky rocketed. On the other hand, they call a strike and trouble us even more. Where is the relief for us?"