LIVE UPDATES: Bharat Bandh against Farm Laws gets support from opposition parties, BJP ally; AAP also support today’s nationwide strike

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JKR Staff
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Farmers across the country have called for a Bharat Bandh or nationwide strike against the controversial Farm Laws passed by the Indian government. Their call for a lockdown across India has received support from almost all major opposition parties and at least one BJP ally.

Those supporting the bandh are the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, the DMK, the Left parties, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Akali Dal among others. BJP ally, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party too have extended their support to today’s Bharat Bandh. 

Kejriwal has had to face plenty of criticism for double-standards and political opportunism as his government has already passed one of the controversial farm laws that is being opposed by farmers. His leaders had to face serious opposition from protesting farmers when they visited them at the Delhi-Haryana border to express their solidarity.

Kejriwal too visited the protesting farmers even as Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad held a press conference to highlight his ‘hypocrisy’ over the farmers’ protests.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping at the Delhi-Haryana border demanding the withdrawal of the three Farm Laws. They were on their way to Delhi when the police launched a brutal crackdown against them. Instead of continuing their journey to Delhi, they decided to gather at the Delhi-Haryana border to continue with their agitation.

Farmer leaders have held a series of discussions with the government without much success. The BJP has said that even the Congress and the NCP had favoured the privatisation of the farm sector in the past.

LIVE UPDATES on today’s Bharat Bandh will appear below:

18:39 PM: There is no midway, we will demand just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from Home Minister Amit Shah at today’s meeting: farmer leader Rudru Singh Mansa. (PTI)

18:31 PM: BJP accuses Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of practising politics of “lies, deceit and propaganda” for alleging that Delhi Police has put him under house arrest, refutes his claim. (PTI)

17:58 PM: Around two dozen @RJDforIndia supporters had a providential escape on Tuesday morning as they rallied on the rail tracks in #Nalanda district of #Bihar even as party workers disrupted train services in quite a few other districts as well. (IANS)

17:07 PM: Central govt bows down before our ‘Bharat Bandh’: farmer leader Rurdu Singh Mansa to media at Singhu border. (PTI)

16:24 PM: We have a meeting with the Home Minister at 7 pm today. We are going to Singhu Border now and from there we will go to the Home Minister: Rakesh Tikait, Spokesperson, Bharatiya Kisan Union. (ANI)

15:46 PM: NCP chief Sharad Pawar says leaders from different political parties will discuss and take collective stand on contentious farm laws before meeting President Ram Nath Kovind. (PTI)

15:39 PM: Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar says the party workers will go to Delhi if issues of farmers are not resolved soon. (PTI)

15:02 PM: Delhi: All India Lawyers’ Union protests at Tis Hazari District Court, in support of #BharatBandh. (ANI)

14:17 PM: Karnataka: Political parties and various organisations protested in front of Town Hall in Bengaluru in support of #BharatBandh called by farmer unions against #FarmLaws. The protesters carried vegetables as a mark of protest and rode a cart pulled by cattle. (ANI)

13:54 PM: Delhi: Shopkeepers in Sarojini Nagar market tie black ribbons around their arms to show solidarity with farmers’ protests, on #BharatBandh. “We’re doing this to show our support for the farmers’ cause. Why can’t the govt grant a simple demand of the MSP,” says one shopkeeper. (ANI)

13:31 PM: Supporters of the @RJDforIndia, the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) & Left parties participated in a massive protest march in #Patna, in support of the nationwide #BharatBandh call given by #farmers. (IANS)

12:58 PM: Arvind Kejriwal had shown his support for the farm bills when he notified a gazette. Gazette is notified when the government accepts a bill administratively and politically. So he has given his acceptance to this bill already: Union Minister & BJP Leader Smriti Irani. (ANI)

12:29 PM: The ‘#BharatBandh’ called by protesting #farmers and supported by various political parties elicited a mixed early response in #Maharashtra on Tuesday morning, especially in urban centres, with no reports of any violence, officials said. (IANS)

12:21 PM: The opposition who is asking to roll back these laws is hypocritical as they had passed the contract farming act while in power. Congress has mentioned the introduction of these laws in their manifesto: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. (ANI)

11:44 AM: Hundreds of #Delhi Congress activists on Tuesday staged a protest and stopped traffic near the Income Tax Office (#ITO) chowk in the national capital in support of the ‘#BharatBandh’ called by the farmers against three #farmlaws. (IANS)

11:07 AM: It is a general deployment to avoid any clash between AAP and any other party. CM has not been put under house arrest: Anto Alphonse, DCP North, Delhi. (ANI)

10:49 AM: The Bharatiya Kisan Union has said they will hold demonstrations at 65 points in #Lucknow on Tuesday afternoon in support of the ‘#BharatBandh’ call. (IANS)

10:15 AM: It’s no political Bandh. It’s our sentiment. Farmer orgs agitating in Delhi aren’t carrying any political flag. It’s our duty to stand in unity with farmers & stay connected to their sentiments. There is no politics here & there shouldn’t be: Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena. (ANI)

09:59 AM: Karnataka: Congress leaders protest in support of #BharatBandh called by farmer unions, raise slogans against the Centre & show black flags, in front of Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. Party leaders Siddaramaiah, BK Hariprasad, Ramalinga Reddy and others present. (ANI)

09:35 AM: Telangana: Road Transport Corporation workers in Kamareddy extend their support to #BharatBandh by farmer unions. A bus driver says, “CM raised his voice against Farm laws. Going with him, we the workers of RTC are protesting here. Farmers should not be subjected to injustice.” (ANI)

09:01 AM: Andhra Pradesh: Left political parties protest in Parvathipuram of Vizianagaram district, in support of the #BharatBandh called by farmers unions, against Central Government’s #FarmLaws. (ANI)

08:31 AM: Uttar Pradesh has been put on high alert view of ‘#BharatBandh’ call for Tuesday. Chief Minister #YogiAdityanath has directed officials to make adequate arrangements to ensure that the common people are not put to any inconvenience on account of ‘Bharat Bandh’. (IANS)

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