Bharat Bandh LIVE Updates: Protesters Block Highways, Roads; Life Hit In Non-BJP Ruled States

Farmer leaders have said emergency services will be exempted and appealed to their affiliates to not force anyone to join the shutdown. Protesting farmers will block key roads and occupy toll plazas in the Delhi-NCR region during their "chakka jam" protest from 11 am to 3 pm.

The nationwide strike called by agitating farmer unions is likely to have an impact in many parts of north India and some non-BJP ruled states elsewhere. 

With almost all Opposition parties and several trade unions backing the “Bharat Bandh” and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure Covid-19 guidelines are followed on Tuesday. The railways too asked its personnel to step up vigil saying protesters may organise rail blockades in 16 states.

The Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Trinamool Congress, DMK and its allies, TRS, RJD, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and the Left are among the political parties that are backing the strike.

Live Updates:

5:00 pm: Home Minister Amit Shah has called us for a meeting today, we will participate, says farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadhuni.

4.58 pm: We don't want to go to Burari, give us Ramlila Ground as we don't want to trouble people of Delhi and Haryana, says farmer leaders to media.

4. 50 pm: Central government bows down before our 'Bharat Bandh', says Farmer leader Rurdu Singh Mansa to media at Singhu border.

4.00 pm: Opposition party leaders have taken a conscious decision to stay away from protest sites, Left leaders said as they extended their support to farmer groups who have called a nationwide bandh against the farm laws. 

3.52 pm: TMC begins sit-in demonstration in support of farmers

3.40 pm: In Gwalior district, police used water cannons to disperse agitators who were led by a Congress leader. Shops remained open in several cities even as Congress workers took out rallies appealing shop-keepers to down shutters.

3.35 pm: Public transport services in the national capital remained largely unaffected during a ‘Bharat Bandh’ even though some auto and taxi unions kept their vehicles off the roads in support of the shutdown called by farmers.

3.30 pm: Young farmers are doing interviews and Facebook Lives to keep families and NRIs updated.

3.29 pm: Farmers block highways in Punjab, Haryana; shops, petrol pumps closed.

3.08 pm: Jammu witnesses pro-farmer protests against newly introduced farm laws.

3.03 pm: Workers of the AICCTU, CPI and student organisations blocked a highway in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district to extend their support to the Bharat Bandh called by farmers demanding the repeal of the Centre's Argi laws.

2.55 pm:  More farmers arrive from Haryana, Punjab; bandh likely to hit the supply of rations for protesters

2.46 pm: Cleaning and hygiene of the 5 km stretch of the protest site is taking care by Sonipat Nagar Palika.  Although politically the ruling govt hasn't come out to support the farmers.

2.36 pm: Bharat Bandh fails to evoke much response in Himachal Pradesh.

2.33 pm: The Blue carpet area is a VIP area where speakers and top leaders sit.

Suresh K. Pandey/Outlook Photo

 2.14 pm: Farmer leaders in Maharashtra accused the government of favouring corporates by bringing these legislations. Former MP from Kolhapur district and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) leader Raju Shetti said the Centre will have to withdraw these laws in view of the mounting pressure.

2.09 pm: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar arrives at the residence of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to meet him.

2.00 pm: Protesters at the Delhi-Haryana border

Photo by Tribhuvan Tiwari

1.39 pm:  The bandh evoked a mixed response in Jammu region with most of the public transport staying off roads. Commuters faced problems and were seen walking a distance, but shops and business establishments remained partially open.

The main protest rally was taken out by J&K Transport Welfare Association (JKTWA) from Bikram Chowk to Digyana, blocking the Jammu-Pathankote highway. National Panthers Party (NPP), Kisan Vikas Front and United Sikh Organisation also staged peaceful protests at different places in the city in support of the bandh call. The JKTWA and over a dozen other social, religious and political organizations have extended support to the bandh call. 

1.34 pm: NCP MP Supriya Sule noted that "it is the moral responsibility" of the government to reach to a solution. 

"Farmers are one who feed food. It is the moral responsibility of the government to resolve (a problem) through dialogue if there is anger in any section of the society," the Baramati MP said.

1.22 pm: The nationwide shutdown, called by the farmers' unions, evoked a mixed response in Assam as shops pulling down their shutters, protesters blocked traffic, and Congress and Left supporters staged demonstrations, even though most of the offices were functioning.

Dozens of protesters were detained in various parts of the state and the movement of fuel tankers was affected in the state. Altogether 14 Opposition parties, including the Congress, AIUDF and Left, and many social organisations in Assam have extended their support to the shutdown.

1.20 pm:  Barring a few places in Gujarat, all the markets, shops, banks, government and private offices, and other commercial establishments functioned normally. About 5,000 petrol pumps also remained open in the state as their associations have not extended support for the shutdown.

Over 200 workers of the opposition Congress, including Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, were detained across the state for either trying to stage demonstrations on roads or while trying to force shops to down shutters. They were detained from cities like Amreli, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Surat, Morbi, Dehgam, Bhavnagar and Modasa, said police.

A highway connecting Ahmedabad to Viramgam was blocked near Sanand by protesters from the Congress party who placed burning tyres on roads, causing a traffic jam. Another group of protesters blocked the Ahmedabad- Vadodara national highway near Chhani village.

1.14 pm: Samajwadi Party (SP) workers came out on the streets of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, raising slogans in support of the ''Bharat Bandh''.  There were reports of clashes between police personnel and SP workers in Basti, Bahraich, Gorakhpur, Chandauli, Sonbhadra, Etawah and other districts of the state. In Basti, police allegedly resorted to baton charge.

A senior state government official, however, said the situation was peaceful.

1.00 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged people to observe Bharat Bandh and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop "stealing" from farmers.

12.53 pm: Normal life continued unaffected in Meghalaya on Tuesday. Shops and markets were open and both private and public vehicles plied in the streets as usual. Governments offices, banks and post offices were open and attendance was normal, officials said.

The Meghalaya Joint Council Trade Union and Associations said the union is extending moral support to the bandh called by farmers union but has decided not to hold any demonstration in the city in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

12:50 pm: The new agriculture laws were introduced by the Centre with an objective to provide benefits to "big persons", senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said while leading a protest in support of the ongoing Bharat Bandh in Indore.

Singh led a demonstration of Congress workers at Sanyogitaganj Anaj Mandi where slogans were raised against the Narendra Modi government.

12:47 pm: In Odisha, roads wore a deserted look as the vehicular movement came to a halt. Train services were also affected as activists of farmers' organisations, trade unions and political parties held sit-ins on railway tracks in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Balasore. Shopping malls and petrol pumps remained shut in most places. The State Civil Services, 2019 GS Paper I & II main exam, which was scheduled to be held during the day, was scheduled to January 2.

Dubbing the new farm laws as "anti-farmer", CPI leader Narayan Reddy said these should be repealed in order to safeguard the interests of the farming community of the country.

12:35 pm: Railway tracks, highways and roads across Bihar have been occupied by protestors with the Opposition parties extending support to the protest led by the farmers' unions. 

Police personnel have been deployed in large numbers across the state to ensure that the movement of essential goods and services remains unhindered.

RJD supporters and workers of Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party fanned out across various parts of Patna, forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters and deflating tyres of vehicles plying on the roads.

12:30 pm: The nationwide strike evoked a mixed response in Rajasthan where mandis remained closed but several shops were open since morning. The bandh is supported by the ruling Congress party in the state.

State transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas along with his supporters visited Civil Lines, Sodala, MI Road and other areas on a tractor to stage protests in Jaipur.

12: 15 pm: The ruling TRS, Opposition parties including the Congress and various workers’ unions are staging protests across Telangana. State transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and TRS leader in Lok Sabha Nama Nageswara Rao attended a sit-in protest at Khammam. 

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka attended a 'rasta roko' at Shamirpet here along with other party leaders.

Telangana Jana Samiti(TJS) leader M Kodandaram, CPI state secretary Chada Venkata Reddy, his CPI (M) counterpart Tammineni Veerabhadram and activists of Left parties and Left-affiliated trade and other unions held a protest at Kothi in Hyderabad.

 12:00pm: The DMK and its allies including the Congress are staging protests across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

In the union territory, ruled by the Congress, the bandh call evoked a near total response with buses, taxis and autos staying off the roads and traders, retail outlets and other commercial establishments downing shutters to support the shutdown while government offices saw thin attendance.

In Tamil Nadu, public and private transportation and normal life was largely unaffected barring traffic congestions in the vicinity of protest locations.

11:50am: Normal life was affected in parts of Karnataka as farmers and workers have hit the roads to stage demonstrations. Many organisations in the state have come in support of the bandh called by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene (Green Brigade). However, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa termed the strike as a “failure”. 

11:15 am: Shops and commercial establishments have remained shut across Punjab. Petroleum dealers in the state have closed filling stations to back the call for the nationwide strike. There are over 3,400 fuel pumps in Punjab.

Farmers have assembled on highways and other key roads in both sin Punjab and Haryana

10: 50 am: A few auto and taxi unions have joined the strike and decided to keep their vehicles off the roads in Delhi.  "There are around 4 lakh app-based cabs in Delhi-NCR. Most of our members are on strike,” Kamaljeet Gill, President of Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi said. 

10:40 am: According to reports, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been placed under house arrest.

10:35 am: Supporters of the Congress and Left parties have blocked railway tracks at several places and held sit-ins on roads in West Bengal.

In Kolkata, CPI(M) activists along with SFI and DYFI members blocked roads in Lake Town, College Street, Jadavpur and Shyambazar Five-Point Crossing. Protests were also staged at Madhyamgram Chowmatha in North 24 Parganas district, Panskura in Paschim Medinipur and in Howrah district’s Bali area.

Protesters blocked railway tracks at Jadavpur and Madhyamgram in Eastern Railway's Sealdah section, and Rishra and Bardhaman in the Howrah section.

10: 30 am: Markets have remained open in BJP-ruled Goa while public transport also functioned without being disrupted. However, according to sources, various political parties and workers’ unions will hold a symbolic protest at Azad Maidan in Panaji later in the day.

10:15 am: Protests were held in Seoni-Malwa area in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday morning. The protesters under the banner of the Krantikari Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (KKMS) raised slogans and demanded the repeal of the new agriculture laws.  A Congress spokesman said the party will hold demonstrations at headquarters of various districts around 11 AM.

10:05 am: Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) are closed in many parts of Maharashtra. Wholesale markets in major cities like Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad have remained shut. Retail shops have also downed shutters in many cities.

9.50 am: Activist Anna Hazare has expressed his support for the bandh and announced that he will sit on a day-long hunger strike to support the protesting farmers.

"I appeal to everyone to spread the the agitation which is going on in Delhi across the country. A situation needs to created to put pressure on the government, and to achieve this, farmers need to hit the streets. But no one should resort to violence," Hazare said on Tuesday.

9: 45 am: Protesters blocked three highways in rural Gujarat by placing burning tyres on roads, affecting vehicular traffic for some time. The state government has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, banning assembly of more than four persons in public spaces.

9.40 am: The Delhi police has said that it will take strict action against protesters disrupting law and order situation in the national capital adding that it will use drones to monitor the demonstrations at various border points.

9:01 am: Members of a farmers' organisation staged a “rail roko” protest in Maharashtra's Buldhana district. Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna members stopped the Chennai-Ahmedabad Navjeevan Express at Malkapur station in Buldhana district while protesting against the farm laws.

Police detained Sanghatana leader Ravikant Tupkar and his supporters over the incident, after removing them from the rail tracks, an official said.

(With PTI inputs)