Farmers Movement Archive

Left parties organise dharna, farm body blocks road for hours

RANCHI: Jharkhand Rajya Kisan Sangharsh Samanvaya Samiti (JRKSSS), Left parties and the trade unions on Friday staged dharnas at various places in support of the Bharat bandh seeking repeal of the Centre’s new farm laws and the amended labour laws. The bandh call, however, had a negligible impact in Ranchi city as shops and commercial institutions functioned normally and transport remained unaffected. JRKSSS members blocked the Bundu-Silli Road near Rahe for several hours to enforce the bandh. Claiming that the farm legislations were black laws, the agitators urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘cast off his dictatorial approach’ and concede to the demands of the farmers. Meanwhile, Left parties including CPI, CPI(M), CPI(M-L) and their affiliated trade unions staged an hour-long dharna at Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi despite the imposition of Section 144 of the CrPC in Ranchi sadar area. The members also took out a procession from Albert Ekka Chowk and passed by Sujata Chowk and Ranchi University to return to the starting point. Notably, the district administration had prohibited any gathering of five or more people in the sadar area and put a ban on rallies and processions in view of the bandh. Citu general secretary Prakash Viplav said: “Initially we had planned to be in groups of four at Albert Ekka Chowk to register our protest. The number of people in the gathering, however, became so large that we were forced to change our programme.” The procession and the dharna caused traffic congestion for over an hour at the Albert Ekka Chowk. The Bank Employee Federation of India’s Jharkhand unit, too, took part in the rally, but the banks functioned as usual. There was no impact of the bandh in Bokaro and Dhanbad districts.

The Times of India

2021-03-27

Ranchi