Home minister Amit Shah met a select group of farmer union leaders in a bid to break the deadlock on Tuesday night, a day before the government's crucial sixth round of talks with representatives of protesting farmers.
Sources said 13 farmer leaders were called for the meeting, which began after 8 pm. The farmer leaders included eight from Punjab and five from various nationwide organisations.
Among those who were taking part were Hannan Mollah of the All India Kisan Sabha and Rakesh Tikait of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Some farmer leaders said they first expected the meeting to take place at Shah's residence here, but the venue was shifted to the Pusa area.
Earlier, farmers had let it be known that they would demand a simple "yes or no" answer to their demands when they met Shah with union leaders claiming that the Bharat Bandh against the new farm laws was "successful" and had impacted life in at least 25 states.
"There is no midway. We will demand just 'yes' or 'no' from Home Minister Amit Shah at today's (Tuesday) meeting," farmer leader Rudru Singh Mansa said at a press conference at the Singhu border.
Mansa claimed the Central government has bowed down before the Bharat Bandh. Another leader Gurnam Singh Chadhuni said the Bharat Bandh was successful and that the Central government knew it did not have a way out.
The nationwide shutdown was observed in around 10,000 places in 25 states, added Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav.
Commercial establishments and shops were closed, transport got affected and traffic was disrupted as protesters demonstrated on roads as well as railway tracks in several parts of the country on Tuesday, in response to the farmers’ call for a Bharat Bandh against the three central agri-marketing laws.
Emergency services were exempted and banks, too, continued operations as the pan-India shutdown, backed by most opposition parties and many trade unions, came into effect with the maximum impact expected in states such as Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, the epicentre of the snowballing protests.
Security was beefed up throughout the country as loud demonstrations were witnessed in several places. In Delhi’s borders, the number of agitators swelled where thousands of farmers have been holding protests for the last 12 days. Protesters blocked railway tracks at several places in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
Delhi
The protest remained peaceful in other parts of the country. In the national capital, markets were open but app-cas remained off the roads, and tension spiralled when the ruling Aam Aadmi Party claimed that Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal was put under house arrest by the Delhi Police.
City police denied the claim but the party stuck to its guns and said the move was a response to Kejriwal meeting protesting farmers at the Singhu border, the main access point for those coming to the city from Punjab.
“No one has been permitted to leave or enter his residence... When our MLAs went to meet the chief minister they were beaten and thrown on the streets,” partly leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
Joining the 'Bharat Bandh' call, some auto-rickshaw and taxi unions also took their vehicles off the roads in the city.
Members of the DPCC Mahila Morcha stage protest in New Delhi during the nationwide strike on Tuesday. PTI
Punjab
Shops, commercial establishments and 3,400 fuel pumps remained closed in Punjab. All major parties in the state, incldingthe ruling Congress, AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal -- have also extended their support.
“Over 50,000 government employees have taken mass casual leave in support of farmers”, said Punjab Civil Secretariat Staff Association president Sukhchain Khaira.
Haryana
Opposition parties including the Congress and Indian National Lok Dal extended their support to the protest in the BJP-JJP ruled state. Farmers gathered on key roads and highways since Tuesday morning to protest.
“Everyone should hold a peaceful protest,” Haryana BKU chief Gurnam Singh Charuni said in a video message.
The Haryana Police traffic advisory warned that main national highways would be closed and the peak time of impact is expected to be between 12 noon to 3 pm, when a ‘Chakka Jam’ is scheduled.
Rajasthan
Reports of clashes between the workers of the ruling Congress workers in Rajasthan and the BJP came in from Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Bengal
In Bengal, where the ruling Trinamul Congress has joined the Congress and the Left in supporting the shutdown but has stayed away from enforcing it, the response was mixed. Life was disrupted with the railway tracks being blocked in several places and sit-ins on major roads and private vehicles off the roads in many parts of the state. However, public transport, including buses and taxis, operated though in fewer numbers.
Trade union activists block a road in Kolkata to support Tuesday's Bharat Bandh. PTI
Bihar
Daily life was hit in Bihar when protesters blocked highways, roads and railway tracks to extend their support. RJD supporters, and workers of Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party rallied across Patna and forced shopkeepers to close their shops, deflating tyres of vehicles plying on the roads.
In Jehanabad, the movement of Patna-Palamu Express was obstructed for a few minutes until the bandh supporters, squatting on the tracks, were chased away by the police.
Odisha
Train services were also affected in Odisha as activists of farmers' organisations, trade unions and political parties held sit-ins on tracks in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Balasore.
Congress and Left supporters blocked major roads elsewhere in the state, affecting normal life in the Biju Janata Dal-ruled Odisha.
Chaattisgarh
Major cities in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, including its capital Raipur, wore a deserted look too with most business establishments closed and public transport keeping away.
“At least 36 farmers, labourers and social organisations led by the Chhattisgarh Kisan Majdoor Mahasangh (CKMM) have been staging protests at various locations in the state in support of the shutdown,” said CKMM's Sanket Thakur.
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh saw sporadic demonstrations, particularly in Seoni-Malwa in Hoshangabad district where protesters under the banner of the Krantikari Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (KKMS) raised slogans and demanded a rollback of the laws.
Maharashtra
Members of the Sikh community block traffic at the Sion-Panvel highway in Mumbai on Tuesday. PTI
In Maharashtra, where the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine has extended its support, wholesale markets in major cities like Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad were shut. Retail shops also downed shutters in many cities.
Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) also remained closed in many parts of the state.
The state government appealed to protesters to not disrupt public transport services and buses and local trains were unaffected till afternoon.