Bhubaneswar: Normal life was hit in some states Tuesday with offices and other institutes closed and vehicles off the roads during an opposition sponsored ‘Bharat Bandh’ which was called by dozens of trade union bodies, farmer organisations seeking repeal of three new farm laws.
The Bandh is supported by opposition parties such as Congress, CPI, CPM, SUCI, All India Forward Bloc, CPI (ML), CPI (M) and AAP, among others.
Train services were disrupted for some time at several places as protesters blocked roads near Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Bhadrak, Chhatrapur and Khalikot.
Vehicular movement was disrupted as passenger buses, trucks and other vehicles remained off the roads with protestors staging road blockades in many places and holding pickets at key junctions.
Roads wore a deserted look with agitators staging pickets at several places in a bid to prevent people from proceeding to offices and other destinations in Bhubaneswar.
Similar reports were received from places like Puri, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Bhadrak, Berhampur and Balasore.
Though the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government did not publicly support the bandh call, the party indirectly supported it shutting down all the government offices in the state. The party hoped that all outstanding issues can be resolved through dialogues between the Centre and the farmers’ groups.
PNN