Bharat Bandh evokes mixed response in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh

In Gwalior, Aam Aadmi Party workers staged a sit-in protest outside the residence of Tomar

The 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmer unions and supported by the Congress and other organisations evoked a mixed response in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday barring sporadic protests.

In Gwalior district, police used water cannons to disperse agitators who were led by a Congress leader.

Shops remained open in several cities even as Congress workers took out rallies appealing shop-keepers to down shutters.

In Morena, the Lok Sabha constituency of Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the bandh evoked a mixed response as farmers couldn't reach the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) to sell their produce.

The functioning of APMCs in many parts of the central Indian state, including in Bhopal, was affected as farmers failed to reach the market yards to sell their produce.

Bhopal vegetable market, however, functioned normally.

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In Gwalior, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers staged a sit-in protest outside the residence of Tomar, following which police detained 50 of them.

In Bhopal, farmers tried to take out a march on the residence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan under the banner of the Rashtriya Kisan Majdoor Sangh, but police stopped it midway at Chunabhattiarea.

Congress workers led by former union minister Arun Yadav and District Congress Committee (DCC) president Kailash Mishra led a protest in Bhopal's New Market area.

Mishra claimed that most of the markets in Old Bhopal remained closed as part of the shutdown. He said workers of the Congress urged shopkeepers to down shutters in different areas.

However, most of the shops in Bhopal remained open.

Yadav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should meet farmers, who are staging protestson the borders of Delhi in biting cold, and sort out their problems.

"The Centre should withdraw the three anti-farmer laws. The congress is with agriculturists," he said.

In Indore, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh led a demonstration at Sanyogitaganj Anaj Mandi where slogans were raised against the Narendra Modi government.

"After introducing demonetisation and GST, the Modi government, in order to benefit big persons, has brought these black laws in the agriculture sector. Besides farmers, labourers working in mandis (agri markets) have hit the roads in protest," Singh told a gathering.

He also discussed the new farm laws with farmers and others working in market yards.

In Dabra in Gwalior district, Congress MLA Suresh Raje led a protest and burnt an effigy of the Central government, prompting the police to use water cannons on protesters.

The shutdown also evoked a mixed response in Sheopur, Narsinghpur, Tikamgarh, Vidisha, Rajgarh, Rewa, Bhind, Shahdol, Hoshangabad and other districts even as protests were held by the Congress and farmers.

Markets in Guna, Barwani, Mandsaur, Jhabua, Umaria and some other districts remained open.

Earlier in the day, protests were held in Seoni-Malwa area in Hoshangabad district.

The protesters under the banner of the Krantikari Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (KKMS) raised slogans and demanded repeal of the new agriculture laws.

State BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI the bandh failed to make any impact in Madhya Pradesh.

"The Congress made a failed attempt to mislead farmers. The Congress supported the farm reforms while it was in power, but changed its stand when in opposition. This exposes the double standards of the Congress," he said.

The three contentious laws at the centre of the farmer protests are 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.