The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has called for the statewide shutdown to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. Barring stray incidents of stone pelting and attempt to disrupt road traffic in Mumbai, there was not much impact of the bandh in the metropolis.
Despite being hailed as one of India's most progressive and most developed states, it is witnessing the fallout of lopsided progress.
Walmik Karad, an aide to Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde, was on Tuesday charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in an extortion case allegedly linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
With all the evasions, one assertion made by the Pune (Rural) police stood out: They had found no connection of the Elgar Parishad with the violent incidents of January 1, 2018. Yet, the case against the 'Bhima Koregaon 16', which is based on exactly this alleged connection, continues, and seven of the accused continue to be behind bars under the UAPA, explains Jyoti Punwani.
According to reports, public transport and banking services remain partly disrupted for the second day in some states.
As fuel prices continue its northward march with petrol and diesel being sold at Rs 80.73 and Rs 72.83 per litre in the national capital, at least 21 opposition parties, led by the Congress have staged a Bharat Bandh protesting the rise in fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
'We have been threatened. We have felt violated.' 'Everything is in danger if you don't give safe spaces to women.'
'A 14-year-old boy kept a status message in praise of Aurangzeb on a social media platform on Thursday. A complaint was received in this connection, based on which an offence was registered at Ashti police station'
Terrorists opened fire at a popular tourist spot near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly holidayers from other states, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
Director general, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Arun Kumar has asked general managers of zonal railways to keep vigil to contain the impact of the nationwide strike called by farmer groups against the three agri laws.
However, no one was injured in the incident.
Marathas, a politically-influential community constituting around 30 per cent of the state's population, have been demanding reservation in jobs and education.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
The day-long Bihar bandh was called by various student organisations, particularly AISA, the student wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), an ultra Left party, to protest attacks on north Indian candidates during a railway recruitment examination in Mumbai.
Rediff.com brings you a combined update of the effect of Thursday's Bharat bandh, called by the National Democratic Alliance, Left parties and Samajwadi Party to protest against the latest hike in petrol prices, from various parts of the country.
In Nashik, around 200km from Mumbai, two groups clashed during a bandh called by the Sakal Hindu Samaj in protest against atrocities on minority community members in the neighbouring country, leading to tension in the Bhadrakali area, where police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
'I fear that Karnataka is going to the polls next year and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has staked claim to Akkalkot and Solapur'
As violence broke out, police baton-charged the protesters and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse them. Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze. More than 360 persons were booked in connection with the violence, police said.
With almost all opposition parties and several trade unions backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure COVID guidelines are followed.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored bandh, in protest against the Ayodhya attack, in Maharashtra, Bihar and Assam\non Thursday failed to evoke much response, excepting stray incidents of violence.
Maoists have threatened to extend indefinitely their bandh call in seven states if their arrested leader Azad is not produced before a court on Monday, a top Naxal leader said on Saturday. "Our 48-hour bandh call from March 22 in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and three districts of Maharashtra will be extended indefinitely if Azad is not produced before the court on Monday," said top Maoist leader Kishenji.
The day-long bandh has been called by the VHP to give vent to the feelings of Hindus over the unjust arrest of the Kanchi seer.
Normal life was hit on Monday in several parts of Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai where stone-pelting BJP and Shiv Sena activists tried to disrupt road and rail traffic during the 12-hour bandh called by the opposition to protest price rise.
The Shiv Sena has spurned Congress' request to participate in the bandh.
Maoists have called for a 24-hour bandh in six states on September 30 to show their "solidarity with the protesting Kashmiris." The Maoists demanded "an immediate end to massacres by the forces in Kashmir, a complete withdrawal of all military and paramilitary forces, a repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a plebiscite for Kashmiris and the release of all political prisoners."
The Left Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party have joined hands to call for a nationwide 12-hour strike on Monday to protest the astronomical rise in prices of essential commodities and fuel.
Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and Republican Party of India on Tuesday appealed to people of Maharashtra to observe bandh on May 31 to demand complete rollback of the steep petrol hike of Rs 7.50 per litre.
Normal life was hit in National Democratic Alliance and Left-ruled states on Monday as rail, air and bus services were disrupted during a bandh called against fuel price hike
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena would not participate in Thane bandh on Thursday, called to protest the civic administration's demolition drive against illegal and dilapidated structures, party chief Raj Thackeray said on Wednesday.
The Shiv Sena on Saturday decided to call off the August 1 bandh over the issue of houses for textile mill workers following Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's positive response to it.
The newspaper said efforts are being made to incite caste violence in the state by exploiting the clashes which took place at Bhima-Koregaon on January 1.
Attendance in commercial organisations is very thin.
There was no report of devotees facing any inconvenience even as shops and eateries downed their shutters and vehicles remained off roads.
A statewide 12-hour bandh called by pro-Kannada outfits on Wednesday on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary issue affected normal life in Bangalore and most parts of Karnataka.
However, the famous Sai Baba temple in the town will remain open, its trustees said on Saturday.
10 central trade unions have called a nationwide shutdown against 'anti-worker policies' of the central government. Apart from being successful in Bengal, Kerala and NE states, the bandh has also got support from Cong leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
'What has taken the government so long to understand what the people of this country are going through?'
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
