The opposition parties, which are in power in Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bengal, Kerala, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry support the bandh. On Monday, YSRCP, Andhra Pradesh’s ruling party, gave its luck to the farmers‘agitation, the 19th political party to do so.
“The bandh will be observed throughout the day, but the ‘chakka jam’ (road blockade) will be active only until 3pm,” said Darshan Pal, president of the Punjab unit of the Krantikari Kisan Union, who along with more out of 30 agricultural representatives, attended all five rounds of talks with the government. The unions want nothing less than the withdrawal of the three new farm laws by the Center.
Emphasizing that their protests are not limited to Punjab, Kriti Kisan Union President Nirbhay Singh Dhudike said at a joint press conference on the Singhu border (between Delhi and Haryana): “Even leaders from around the world, such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, they are supporting us. Ours is a peaceful protest. ”
On Sunday, 11 political parties, including Congress, DMK, NCP, SP, RJD, and left-wing parties, had issued a statement endorsing the bandh. Seven other parties had also done it separately.
In Hyderabad, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which spearheaded the separate statehood movement for Telangana, will participate in dharnas and ‘rasta rokos’ on Tuesday after a seven-year gap, while the YSR Congress in neighboring Andhra state also announced that it will join the bandh. . Expressing solidarity with farmers, all government offices will be closed until 1 pm and buses will be off the roads, the AP state government said.
Farmers protest live updates
In Maharashtra, the three ruling parties, Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, have supported the bandh. And with a large chunk of APMC markets in Maharashtra expected to go on strike, the city’s supply of fruits and vegetables is likely to be affected on Tuesday. However, buses, cars and taxis, as well as retail stores, are expected to operate as usual. The banks will be operating, although workers from the Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation will express their solidarity with farmers by wearing badges and holding morchas and demonstrations.
In West Bengal, Trinamool director Mamata Banerjee has extended her support for Tuesday’s bandh despite the fact that “my government does not support the bandh because day laborers are badly affected by the closures.” Banerjee called on his party members to organize dharnas in support of the agitated farmers in each block of Bengal.
The ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala has announced its support for the bandh. But due to polls by local bodies, five districts in the south of the state vote on December 8 in the first phase, no proper bandh will be applied in Kerala.
In Punjab, the epicenter of agricultural unrest, Congress Speaker Sunil Jakhar said protests will be organized at the district level across the state, adding that the responsibility for any inconvenience people would face during the bandh rested with the Center that did not consult farmers before. pass laws.
In Rajasthan, the 247 cereal mandi and six fruit and vegetable mandi will remain closed in support of the bandh, said Rajasthan President Khaddya Padarth Byapar Sangh Babu Lal Gupta. In addition, the BJP ally Rashtriya Loktantrik party, led by Hanuman Beniwal, has also extended its support to the bandh. Assam’s AGP is another BJP ally that has backed the bandh.
All non-NDA parties in Jharkhand, including Congress and JMM who are in power, are ready to take to the streets for the bandh. Congress has ordered its cadres to take to the streets to “make the bandh successful.”
In Odisha, although BJD had yet to decide whether to extend its support to the bandh, the Odisha government announced that government offices will be closed on Tuesday. “There are chances that transportation and communications will be affected due to the bandh. This can have an adverse impact on the pandemic. In view of the same, the government has decided to keep all offices closed. The emergency services will remain open, “said a statement issued by the information and public relations department.
Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry received representations in support of the new laws from agricultural groups based in Haryana and some other states. Although many agricultural teams in Haryana expressed their support for the ‘bandh’, other groups representing thousands of farmers linked to the Agricultural Producers’ Organizations (OPF) petitioned the Minister of Agriculture on Monday Narendra Singh Tomar do not repeal the laws.
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