The hartals called by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kozhikode Corporation limits saw most shops and other business establishments downing their shutters on Thursday.

While the LDF had called a half-day hartal from 6 am to 1 pm in protest against the alleged attempt to assault city mayor A.K. Premajam, the UDF had called for a dusk-to-dawn hartal protesting the attack on the house of Congress councillor C.S. Sathyabhama allegedly by DFYI activists Tuesday night.

The UDF councillors held a march in the city in the evening protesting “the misrule” of the LDF in the corporation and also boycotted the corporation council meeting on Thursday.

The worst hit were state board Class 10 and 11 students appearing for their model examinations as they found it hard to reach the exam centres with buses and three-wheelers staying off the roads.

More than half the students failed to appear for the examination in most schools under corporation limits, said a school principal.

While people driving their own vehicles were not stopped, those using public transport were harassed as party workers forced buses to stop plying and offload their passengers.

Patients heading for the medical college hospital had a hard time as workers stopped buses on the roads or demanded that they return to their depots.

The corporation council meeting, meanwhile, passed a resolution demanding flexibility in government rules for implementing various projects and said it would not be possible to spend 80 per cent of the allocation made in the current financial year due to the delay in projects being approved.