Bharat Bandh: Support Pours In For Farmers Protest

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) organised a Bharat Bandh on the first anniversary of the passing of the three contentious farm laws by President Ramnath Kovind. The umbrella organisation that leads 40 other farm unions across the country called for the closure of all government offices, privates institutions, shops, educational institutes and other industries.

Patrolling was intensified on protest sites, and extra police personnel were deployed on the border of the national capital to manage the protestors. The farmers protested on state and national highways and blocked rail tracks. The farmer protests led to a heavy traffic jam on the Gurugram-Delhi border, and the video went viral.

Opposition Supports Bharat Bandh

Several Opposition parties supported the call for Bharat Bandh. Congress's leading Opposition Party lent its support to call from farmers and stood up for the Bharat Bandh. The state of Punjab firmly stood in Opposition to the Centre, and almost the entire state observed the shutdown.

Several districts have national and state highways, including Amritsar, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Sangrur, Mohali, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Bathinda, were blocked by the protesters. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in support of the agitating farmers.

The LiveMint quoted Mayawati's tweet saying that "The farmers of the country do not endorse the three farm laws brought in a hurry by the Centre, and are sad about it. They have been protesting for the past ten months in the country and aggressively, especially around Delhi. They have given the call of 'Bharat Bandh', and BSP supports its peaceful organising".

The official Twitter handle of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also tweeted appealing to the Centre to repeal the farm laws. Party leader Raghav Chadha mentioned that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has always stood by the farmers and is against the 'black laws'.

#BharatBandh was viral on Twitter, and several activists and politicians also stepped up their support for the farmers. A joint statement of CPI, CPI (M), All India Forward Bloc called the farmers' struggle 'historic' and demanded a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and urged other people to come out to support them

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