Chhattisgarh:Cong, transporters, industry to back Bharat bandh

Road transport organisations have also extended support to the bandh, he said.Meanwhile, BJP national vice president and former chief minister Raman Singh has accused the Congress and Opposition parties at the Centre of hatching a political conspiracy and misleading farmers.

The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh has extended its support to the Bharat bandh called by farmers' unions on Tuesday against the three new farm laws enacted by the Centre and has appealed to people to express solidarity with cultivators. "We have appealed to all sections of society that they should stand by the farmers and support their agitation. Bandh will be observed in an aggressive but peaceful and non-violent manner," Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, who heads communication wing of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC), said on Monday.

He said state Congress president Mohan Markam has given the responsibility to office-bearers and workers of all units of the party in the state to make the bandh successful. Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCCI) has also agreed to support the shutdown and to keep commercial establishments and shops shut, he added.

Emergency services like hospitals, ambulances, fire brigade and medicine shops have been exempted from the bandh, Trivedi added. Slamming the Centre over the farm laws, Trivedi said they are completely against the interests of farmers, and therefore demands are being made for their repeal.

Chhattisgarh Kisan Majdoor Mahasangh (CKMM) office-bearer Sanket Thakur said, "At least 36 farmers, labourers and social organisations led by the CKMM will take out rallies at various places across the state in support of the bandh". Road transport organisations have also extended support to the bandh, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP national vice president and former chief minister Raman Singh has accused the Congress and Opposition parties at the Centre of "hatching a political conspiracy and misleading farmers". "The Congress party is on the verge of getting extinct in the entire country. Now, it has been hatching a conspiracy to come out on streets in a bid to save its existence," Singh told reporters.

When asked why farmers are not convinced with the new agriculture laws, he said they will come on board. "But there are certain groups which are spreading apprehension and misleading farmers. Wherever there is Congress in power like in Punjab, its chief minister and his government have held hostage that road (apparently referring to protest of farmers on Delhi borders). It is a political conspiracy of Congress and its allies in the UPA," he alleged.

PTI TKP NSK NSK.