Bharat Bandh live updates: No talks between govt & farmers on Wednesday, says farmer leader after meeting with Shah

The Congress party, AAP, CITU, all-India Kisaan Sabha and Anganwari workers joined hands with 360 villages of the Jharsa Khap to stage a protest at Jharsa Chowk and Bilaspur Chowk on National Highway 48 here during the Bharat Bandh on Tuesday, demanding a roll back of the farm laws. However, hundreds of people including Rajya Sabha MP KK Rajesh, CITU, all-India Kisaan Sabha and Anganwari workers staging a protest in support of farmers at Bilaspur Chowk later on Tuesday have been taken into preventive custody by the police. Last week, a mahapanchayat of 360 villages was held in Jharsa village where representatives of all the Khaps participated and assured their support to the farmers' protest.

Several US lawmakers and eminent members of the Sikh community in America have voiced their support for farmers agitating in India against the new farm laws and urged that they be allowed to protest peacefully. Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and several other states have been protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repealing of three farm laws enacted in September. Dubbing these laws as "anti-farmer", these farmers claim that the newly enacted legislations would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

Punjabi artistes Diljit Dosanjh, Ammy Virk, Gurdas Maan and others have extended their support to Bharat Bandh call given by farmers organisations. "Today is Bharat Bandh #FarmersProtest" he wrote in the caption. Sharing the same photo on his Twitter account, singer-actor Ammy Virk wrote, “#Today Bharat Bandh #ModiYesOrNo." The picture of “Bharat Bandh” was also shared by actor Neeru Bajwa and Gippy Grewal on their respective Twitter handle.

The nationwide shutdown, called by the farmers' unions, evoked a mixed response in Assam on Tuesday with shops pulling down their shutters, protesters blocking traffic, and Congress and Left supporters staging demonstrations, even as most of the offices were functioning. Dozens of protesters were detained in various parts of the state, while the movement of fuel tankers was affected due to the support extended to the 'Bharat Bandh' by their unions, officials said. Altogether 14 opposition parties, including the Congress, AIUDF and Left, and many social organisations in Assam extended their support to the shutdown, called by farmers' unions, demanding the repeal of the three new farm laws.

Asserting that the autorickshaw and taxi drivers have already been suffering because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Delhi Auto-Taxi Union decided to stay away from the Bharat bandh call by farmers, agitating against the new agricultural laws, on Tuesday. Delhi Auto-Taxi Union General Secretary Rajendra Soni said they support the demands of the farmers, but not the bandh. "Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the auto-taxi drivers have been suffering a lot. In such a situation it is not right to go on strike."

Railway tracks, highways and roads across Bihar were teeming with supporters of the 'Bharat Bandh', which affected normal life in the state on Tuesday with the opposition parties extending support to the protest led by the farmers' unions against the Centre's farm laws. Police were deployed in large numbers across the state to ensure that the movement of essential goods and services remained unhindered. RJD supporters, and workers of Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party fanned out to various parts of Patna, forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters and deflating tyres of vehicles plying on the roads.