Hyderabad: The verve with which the Bharat Bandh was called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday has ended up in partial success with many states functioning normally like any other day. Except in northern states like Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and parts of western Uttar Pradesh where national highways, state highways, and link roads have been badly affected, bringing road traffic to a grinding halt and Railway stations turning into dharna sites, there has been moderate or little impact on the rest of the country.
In western states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan, the Bandh called by the farmers failed to have any substantial impact. In fact, commercial establishments and local transport have been operating as usual in the commercial capital of the country — Mumbai — on Monday and the city police even did not deploy an extra security force at key junctions and roads. In Goa, the Bandh failed to evoke any response as all services, including public transport, banks, trains and commercial establishments were operating normally in the coastal state, a senior police official said. Similarly in Gujarat, the Bandh received little response till noon with markets and Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) continued to function like any normal day. Several leaders, including the Congress president in Morbi, appealed to farmers to join the bandh. Traders from the marketing yard were approached in-person to join the bandh, although police detained all the leaders. In Junagadh, Kisan Morcha leaders have given a memorandum to the DM. Farmers in Surat who have been protesting were detained by the police. No major incident of any traffic disturbance on road or rail has been reported yet till 12.30 pm in the state.
In southern states, the Bandh had a partial impact. While states governments in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu have supported the Bandh; Telangana and Karnataka schools, universities, government offices, and public institutions functioned with half attendance. After the Kerala High Court banned bandhs in the state, the government announced that all university examinations scheduled for Monday would be postponed. Public transport including buses, taxis, and auto-rickshaws were off the roads. Shops and establishments remained shut. Essential services like milk booths and medical shops, however, functioned as normal.
Similarly, the 6 am-4 pm Bharat Bandh in eastern states like West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Assam and other Northeastern states had no impact. Except for stray incidents like protest rallies, normal life remained unaffected. Odisha (including the bordering districts of Andhar Pradesh) has already announced a holiday in most parts of the state due to the cyclone Gulab that hit on Sunday. Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has announced his support for the nationwide strike. Congress has also said it will be joining the protests on Monday.
