Bharat Bandh affects life in Bihar, highways, railway tracks blocked

Railway tracks, highways and roads across Bihar were teeming with supporters of the 'Bharat Bandh', which affected normal life in the state on Tuesday with the opposition parties extending support to the protest led by the farmers' unions against the Centre's farm laws.

Police were deployed in large numbers across the state to ensure that the movement of essential goods and services remained unhindered.

RJD supporters, and workers of Pappu Yadav's Jan Adhikar Party fanned out to various parts of Patna, forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters and deflating tyres of vehicles plying on the roads.

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Many bandh supporters were seen carrying party flags, much to the embarrassment of their leaders who said that instructions were in place "not to give a political colour" to the support extended to the bandh.

In Jehanabad, the movement of Patna-Palamu Express was obstructed for a few minutes until the bandh supporters, squatting on the tracks, were chased away by the police.

Burning tyres were placed on National Highway 110 and 83, resulting in the disruption of traffic, leading to long queues of vehicles.

In Nawada, cadres of the Congress, the CPI and CPI(ML) hit the streets, raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanding the withdrawal of the agriculture laws terming these as "anti-farmer".

Similar scenes were witnessed in the Khagaria district.

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The state police headquarters here said instructions had been issued to all district police chiefs late on Monday to firmly crackdown on any attempts to disrupt essential services and delivery of essential items.

Neeraj Kumar, MLC of the ruling JD(U), said the opposition parties in the state were seeking "revenge" from the people for their defeat in the recently-held assembly polls.

RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari countered, claiming party activists have been asked to observe the bandh peacefully, and report to the administration "any attempts by anti-social elements to indulge in mischief and bring a bad name to the party".