NEW DELHI, March 2: Hundreds of thousands of activists led by the Left parties, which provide crucial support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government staged protests across the country to denounce the visit of US President George Bush on Thursday, dubbing him as a “war criminal”.

The protests were by and large peaceful barring an incident in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir when several people were injured in a clash between police and Shia demonstrators, Press Trust of India said.

In Delhi, Left leaders supported by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, which also supports the government from outside, attacked the prime minister’s policies and issued implied threats saying the coalition would “face consequences” if it ignored the Left suggestions.

This was quite the opposite of TV analysts who had a field day as they lavished fulsome praise on the Indian and American leaders.

“The US President has come to India as a guest of the government but he is not the guest of the people,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat told a 100,000 strong rally in Delhi.