Bharat Bandh evokes mixed response across the country

The Bharat Bandh call made by the farmers has received a mixed response from the various parts of the country. Even political leaders made contradictory claims about its countrywide impact.

Leaders from the BJP ruled state held that the Bharat Bandh call didn’t gather any momentum in the country as the majority of farmers were not in favour of holding any protest.

On the other hand, the non-BJP ruled states claimed that it became a huge success as a significant percentage of farmers participated in the protest and raised slogans against the government’s anti-farm policies.

Most importantly, there was no news of any untoward incidents from any part of the country which suggests that farmers made a symbolic call Bharat Bandh.

Farmers’ leaders had formally said on December 7 that they would make it a symbolic protest and would not disrupt the normal working hours.

Besides the bordering areas of Delhi, the rest of the places of the national capital remained peaceful and the Bandh didn’t seem to have any impact on the day-to-day working of the people.

The main markets remained open and people attended offices as usual.

However, there were reports of road blockages and restrictions on people’s movement on various national highways of the country.

Some protestors tried to disrupt the rail traffic in the early hours which caused some controversy. The BJP leaders alleged that the protest has been politicised by the various opposition parties.

On the other hand, the farmers claimed that their agitation received support from various sections of society.

Now, the government and farmers' leaders will sit for the next round of talks on December 9.