The nationwide strike called by 10 trade unions against the Modi-led government’s anti-labour policies impacted normalcy in almost all the major cities in the country on Wednesday. Thousands of workers and leaders took to the main junctions in the respective cities raising slogans against the government policies. West Bengal was reported to be widely affected by the bandh while the protesters blocked the railway track in Howrah. A clash erupted allegedly between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) workers in Burdwan and a public transport bus was vandalised in Cooch Behar.
#BharatBandh | Workers of JJ hospital chant slogans as they join the nationwide trade unions strike. pic.twitter.com/FHCpyXOU8N
— Mumbai Mirror (@MumbaiMirror) January 8, 2020
In Andhra Pradesh, Left parties and trade unions’ leaders who staged road blockade were detained. Protesters were arrested in Vijayawada, Guntur, Ongole, Visakhapatnam, Kadapa as they tried to block the APSRTC buses at the depots. Banking services got hit with various bank employee associations, including AIBEA, All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), BEFI, INBEF, INBOC and Bank Karmachari Sena Mahasangh (BKSM), have expressed their willingness to participate in the strike.
While the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra on Wednesday extended its support to the bandh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to express his solidarity. “The Modi-Shah Govt’s anti-people, anti-labour policies have created catastrophic unemployment & are weakening our PSUs to justify their sale to Modi’s crony capitalist friends. Today, over 25 crore workers have called for #BharatBandh2020 in protest,” read the tweet.
The Modi-Shah Govt’s anti people, anti labour policies have created catastrophic unemployment & are weakening our PSUs to justify their sale to Modi’s crony capitalist friends.
Today, over 25 crore ??workers have called for #BharatBandh2020 in protest.
I salute them.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 8, 2020
