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Bharat Bandh: Thane wears deserted look; protest remains peaceful
The bandh did not have much impact in Kalyan Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Badlapur cities as autorickshaws and private vehicles were seen plying. Shops also remained open in the morning
The nationwide bandh in support of the protest against farm laws by farmers in Delhi saw its impact in Mumbra as it was completely shut since morning. In Kalyan, another city in Maharashtra’s Thane district, 40-50 Congress workers were detained as they tried to carry out a bike rally.
“We wanted to reach out to more people and had planned to do a bike rally with 150 bikes. However, the police did not allow and detained around 40-50 of our party workers on the spot. We did not have any intention of violence. It was just a step to give maximum support to the farmers,”said Sachin Pote, president, Kalyan, Congress.
Shopkeepers and auto drivers in Mumbra joined the agitation on Tuesday to show solidarity with the protesting farmers in Delhi. Police bandobast was seen outside Thane station where members of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi protested by raising slogans.
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However, Mumbra wore a deserted look. “All autos were off the road and shops will remain shut till 5pm; this is to express our support with the farmers against the farm laws. We will also have a protest outside the party office in Mumbra at noon,” said Shamim Khan, a party worker of Nationalist Congress Party.
NCP members gathered outside the Thane district collector office to protest.
In the early hours, the bandh did not have much impact in Kalyan Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Badlapur cities as autorickshaws and private vehicles were seen plying. Shops also remained open in the morning hours. Later in the day, Shiv Sena and communist party workers thronged the streets at Kalyan, Vitthalwadi premises and demanded that shops be shut.
The APMC market in Kalyan was closed in support of the bandh. Although the autorickshaw unions, Konkan VIbhag Rickshaw Taxi Mahasangh in Kalyan and Lal bauta rickshaw union in Dombivli decided to support the bandh, several autos were found plying on the streets for commuters.
