‘Bandh’ sponsored by ten trade unions foiled by rainfall and picketing by BJP workers and supporters

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, July 9, 2025

The twenty four hour ‘Bharat Bandh’ sponsored by ten all India trade unions including the CITU , labour arm of the CPI (M), failed to evoke desired response because of incessant statewide monsoon rain and anti-bandh picketing by the workers and supporters of the BJP and its front organizations . Despite the heavy rain commenced from last Monday, the opposition CPI (M) and its front organizations had campaigned for today’s ‘bandh’ as part of the all India programme of ten trade unions to press for a ten point charter of demands that include withdrawal of four point labour code introduced by the BJP led central government.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangha (BMS) leader Tapas Majumder claimed that the people of the state have totally foiled the ‘anti-people bandh’ called by the CITU and nine other trade unions. All the BJP MLAs , elected representatives and party leaders and workers took to the ground to ensure opening of the shops, business establishments, educational institutions and government offices and markets as also to ensure plying of the vehicles on roads. Even though the movement of vehicles would have been less in the normal rainy day like this but the traffic movement was normal with all vehicles taking to the streets , mainly for fear of the strong arm tactics of the ruling party.

According to reports pouring from outlying areas of the state, a group of BJP workers had forced owners of closed shops in the Durlabh Narayan market under Sonamura subdivision to open shops after coming to market with umbrellas overhead. The CPI (M) leaders of the area, Md Saleem, Anwar Hossain, Abdul Saleem , Abul Kalam and peasant leader Abul Ahmed confidentially said that, but for strong arm intervention by the BJP workers the ‘bandh’ would have been total in Durlabh Narayan market.

The situation was more or less peaceful in the Kathalia market under Sonamura subdivision because of deployment of police and CRPF jawans in the market, CPI (M) party office and other areas. The CRPF jawans posted in the Kathalia market ensured peaceful opening of shops and transaction of business. There was a peaceful ambience in the Jatrapur market also but most of the shops in the market there remained close as were most of the shops in the ADC market areas.However, movement of passenger vehicles on the Sonamura-Belonia road was limited mainly due to rainfall and lack of passengers.

In an interesting incident the shop-keepers who had kept their shops open today in the Melaghar market were garlanded and congratulated by the BJP president of Sepahijala (south) Uttam Das, Juba Morcha president Sushanta Sarkar and chair-person of the Melaghar Nagar Panchayat Anamika Ghosh Paul. Reports on the situation pertaining to ‘bandh’ in North Tripura and Dhalai districts have not yet been released by police and civil authorities. But the minister for tribal welfare Bikash Debbarma today visited the markets, schools and government offices in his Krishnapur constituency and found all of them working normally.

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