The daylong Bharat Bandh called by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday, coinciding with the first anniversary of the Centre's enactment of three contentious farm laws, evoked partial response across Jharkhand even though the ruling coalition partners JMM-Congress-RJD and other non-NDA parties offered support.
While commercial and passenger vehicles on state and national highways were fewer than normal, public transport in the cities and towns were by and large unaffected. Long-distance travel was, however, impacted as very few inter-state buses plied the roads.
In state capital Ranchi, markets along Main Road were closed till noon as Albert Ekka Chowk saw a series of protests by various political parties since morning.
CPM and CPI held protest marches from Kutchery Chowk to Albert Ekka Chowk, while the JMM, Congress and RJD held agitations for over an hour from 11am, paralysing the traffic for more than two hours. Holding banners and posters critical of the farm laws and the Union government, protestors demanded the rollback of the legislations, calling them anti-farmer, anti-poor and pro capitalist.
CPI state secretary Bhuwaneshwar Prasad Mehta dubbed the bandh as historic. “The nationwide bandh has got voluntary support from different sections of the society as everyone concedes that the farmers’ woes will impact everyone along the food chain. The farmers’ agitation is only growing from strength to strength,"he said.
The JMM also called the bandh successful, warning the Modi government to mend its ways. Addressing a press conference in the evening, party general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharjee called it a grand success. He claimed that vehicular movement on all state and national highways in Jharkhand was suspended.
Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, he said, “Since the last seven years, the PM has been holding Man ki Baat. But, he and his government have turned a deaf ear to Kisan ki Baat. Over 1,000 farmers have died so far due to the ongoing agitation but ironically the Centre has turned numb to their woes. It proves that more than annadata (farmers), this government is for its corporate friends like Adanis and Ambanis.”
The Opposition BJP, however, claimed that the bandh was a flop. “The bndh in Jharkhand remained a super flop even though the ruling p[arties supported it. Similar was the situation across the country except in handful of states like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. This proves that people at large in the county believe in Modiji’s leadership and vision,” said state BJP president Deepak Prakash.
In Dhanbad and neighbouring districts of Bokaro and Giridih, the response to the bandh was lukewarm. Life was largely unaffected but there were road blocks put up in rural and suburban areas.
Long distance travellers faced difficulty as 80 per cent buses could not ply on highways. Though bandh supporters tried to disrupt train services in Giridih, they were disperesed by RPF personnel. Coal transport of BCCL through tippers remained normal and colliery operations remained unaffected.
The attendance in government offices and banks located in urban centres was also normal.
In Ranchi, Jharkhand Bus Owners Association secretary Kishore Mantri said that about 30 per cent of about 2000 buses that go from Ranchi remained off the road.
