NEW DELHI: Opposition parties, including many regional outfits, on Sunday came out in strong support of the ‘Bharat Bandh’ on December 8 called by farmer unions which have been protesting on Delhi’s borders for 11 days demanding the repeal of the Centre’s new agri-marketing laws.
Prominent leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, DMK chief M K Stalin and PAGD chairman Farooq Abdullah also issued a joint statement backing the proposed day-long strike and pressed the Centre to meet the legitimate demands of the protesters. Claiming that their agitation has spread across the nation, farmer leaders, who have maintained that their protest is apolitical, welcomed the support and urged all to come forward to make Tuesday’s Bharat Bandh a success. After five rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmer unions failed to end the impasse, the two sides are again set to meet on December 9, a day after the countrywide strike. “This agitation is not only of Punjab farmers but is of the entire nation. We are going to strengthen our agitation and it has already spread across the nation,” farmer leader Baldev Singh Yadav said at a press conference.
“Since the government was not able to deal with us properly, we gave a call for Bharat Bandh,” he said and appealed to everyone to make sure that the bandh remains peaceful. “We won’t let anyone turn it violent and would take strict action against them. We request everyone to be part of the bandh,” he said.
During the bandh, shops and businesses will remain shut. Ambulances and other emergency services will be exempted, farmer leaders said.
The Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, TRS, DMK, SP and the AAP joined the Trinamool Congress, RJD and the Left parties in supporting the strike call.
NCP chief and former union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar warned the Centre that if the deadlock continues, the agitation will not be limited to Delhi and people from across the country will stand by the protesting farmers.
