Bharat Bandh: A test for the Opposition as well

New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) Tuesday's 'Bharat Bandh' will be a test for the Opposition to prove its mettle in generating a response from the BJP-ruled states more than its own states.

Almost the entire Opposition has lent support to the bandh so far.

Eleven opposition parties have issued a joint statement in support of the strike while the rest have given individual statements.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS), Shiv Sena and the AAP have issued separate statements in support of the bandh. The TMC has extended its support to the farmers but is not going to be part of the bandh call.

An NDA constituent, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party's lone MP, Hanuman Beniwal, has also supported the bandh. The BJP and its allies, including the AIADMK, the YSRCP and the Janata Dal (United) are the only ones left out.

Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut in a statement said, "Shiv Sena will support the bandh called by the farmers. We have a moral responsibility to support the farmers."

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said, "I am very much concerned about the farmers, their lives and livelihood. GOI must withdraw the anti-farmer bills. If they do not do so immediately we will agitate throughout the state and the country. From the very start, we have been strongly opposing these anti-farmer bills."

The BJP has governments in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in the vicinity of the national capital, while the Congress has governments in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where the impact of the bandh could be high. The farmers of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are protesting inside and outside Delhi's borders.

The TRS, which has supported the bandh, governs Telangana and the impact may be big there while in Maharashtra and Jharkhand where there are coalition governments the bandh could affect normal life. In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi party is already protesting with scores of leaders of the party on the roads on Monday.

In Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal has announced support which may be another flash point with the government in the state. In West Bengal, the TMC, Left and the Congress have supported the bandh and hence, it may be effective.

The farmers and the government are at loggerheads over the issue of three farm laws and the next round of talks is proposed on Wednesday, a day after the bandh. The government will also assess the impact of the bandh and may take a decision accordingly.

The farmers' agitation along the borders of Delhi, which entered its 12th day on Monday, is for the withdrawal of the newly passed farm laws.

The fifth round of talks between the government and farmers' leaders on Saturday afternoon, remained inconclusive as several representatives of the farmers said they wanted only the repeal of the three new farm laws.

While sources say that the government was agreeable to amendments to The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, farmers are pushing for the total scrapping of the three laws.