The Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) call for a Bharat Bandh on Monday, to mark the first anniversary of the three controversial farm laws getting presidential assent, has garnered the Opposition’s support. Several Opposition parties—from Congress’ Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to Andhra and Tamil Nadu governments—have declared support to the nationwide strike. The Congress too has said that it will be joining the protests on Monday.
The bandh will be held from 6 am to 4 pm during which all government and private offices, educational and other institutions, shops, industries and commercial establishments as well as public events and functions will be closed throughout the country.
The Andhra Pradesh government has declared full support to the Bharat Bandh on 27 September. The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has appealed to everyone to take part in the proposed nationwide strike on by farmer unions and urged its functionaries as well to make the “Bharat Bandh” a success in the state.
Kerala’s ruling LDF has also called for a state-wide bandh to express solidarity with the farmers. This call was announced by LDF convenor and CPI(M) acting secretary A. Vijayaraghavan after the meeting of the leaders of the ruling party alliance in Thiruvananthapuram.
Former Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has also extended his support to the farmers’ call for the Bharat Bandh. In a tweet, Tejashwi Yadav said that in the meeting of the top leaders of the grand alliance parties held at the residence, it was unanimously decided to participate and support the Bharat Bandh called on September 27 “in protest against the anti-farmer policies of the NDA government”. “We are firm with the farmers,” he said.
The Congress too will join “Bharat Bandh”. Party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said that the Modi government has systematically assaulted the agriculture sector in the past seven years. At the very onset in 2014, the Modi government came up with the Land Acquisition Ordinance to usurp farm lands in the name of strategic sectors but the government had to drop this bill, he said.
Meanwhile, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday warned the Central government to repeal the three farm laws, or else Samyukt Kisan Morcha will hold protests and meetings in poll-bound states and give ‘vote ki chot’ to the government.
“Government of India should repeal the three farm laws at the earliest. If they would not, Samyukt Kisan Morcha will go to every part of the country and hold meetings and protests against the central government. Campaigns will be done in poll-bound states too. In fact, meetings are going on in states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. We will give the government ‘vote ki chot’,” Tikait said during a public meeting in Panipat on Sunday.
Farmer unions have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since 26 November last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.