New Delhi: Public services, especially the banking, industries and transport sectors, were affected during the Bharat Bandh called by 10 central unions on Thursday. The nationwide strike was called to protest against the new farm and labour laws, Times Now reported.
AITUC General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur claimed that Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been affected the most. “The strike has begun. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are completely shut down. Similar situation is also developing in Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Goa. There is also a good response to the strike in Maharashtra,” she said.
Here’s how the strike played out in some parts the country:
Odisha
Members of Odisha Nirmana Sramik Federation, All India Central Council of Trade Unions and All Orissa Petrol and Diesel Pump Workers Union held demonstrations and blockaded roads in Bhubaneswar. Protests and road blockades by bandh supporters were also reported from Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sundargarh, Balasore, Rayagada and Sambalpur among other places.
West Bengal
CPI (M–L), CPI (M) and Congress blocked railway tracks at Jadavpur in Kolktata. Left party members also blocked a road at Konnagar in Hooghly and organised protests in Bankura district. The protesters were also seen trying to block railway tracks in Durgapur.
Earlier on November 23, Left and Congress members had staged a protest march in Kolkata in support of the Bharat Bandh call. The protestors had burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Delhi
CPI (M) members held protests in Delhi. “This historic #MazdoorKisanStrike is a watershed moment in India’s long history of peoples’ struggles. This strike is a demonstration of the unity of the most oppressed classes, farmers and agricultural labourers, converging with industrial workers and employees in public,” CPIM Delhi tweeted.
Haryana
Some farmers’ associations organised a ‘Delhi Chalo’ march and assembled at various places along the Delhi and Haryana borders amid mounting tension. The Haryana administration has imposed Section 144 to stop farmers coming from Punjab to enter the state. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Punjab chief Gurnam Singh Charunin has said that if the farmers are not allowed to cross Haryana and head towards Delhi, they would continue to demonstrate at border points for a week.
Kerala
As trade unions observe a day-long nationwide strike, bus services were affected in Kerala. Supporting the bandh call, the shopkeepers in Kochi kept their shutters down.
