Four buses were damaged after a fight broke out between the cadres of the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK here during a district-wide strike called by politicos in support of the contract workers of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited.

Situation in Cuddalore and Virudhachalam remained calm with just the shops shut. The DMK and AIADMK functionaries got in to a scuffle in Neyveli when the ruling party men asked shop owners to resume business.

Police interfered and pacified the two fighting groups and dispersed the crowd. Workers in Neyveli Lignite Corporation, affiliated to DMK, had withdrawn their strike earlier after signing an agreement with the management of NLC.

More than 3,000 police personnel were deployed in Neyveli due to the strike and all NLC buses were given special police escorts.