Poor response to trade unions’ Bharat Bandh call in Karnataka

The Bharat Bandh called by several central trade unions on Wednesday to protest against the labour policies of the Union government evoked poor response in BJP-ruled Karnataka. While traffic was normal in most parts of the state and schools and colleges functioned normally as no holiday was declared, malls and shopping complexes in most cities wore a deserted look. In Bengaluru, workers belonging to AITUC and CITU took out a rally near Freedom Park and raised slogans against the Centre after the police denied them permission to hold a rally near Town Hall, the main venue of protests in the state capital. Some members of the Kannada Vatal Paksha- a fringe political party - including its leader Vatal Nagraj were detained for trying to stop bus services at the city’s main bus stand at Majestic. They were later released. There were rallies by pro-bandh supporters in Mysuru, Huballi, Kolar, Kalburgi and Kodagu as well. A state transport bus was damaged in Kodagu after some protesters threw stones at it. Services of public sector banks were also affected by the strike. However, movement of essential services including medical, millk, vegetables and others were not impacted due to the bandh. The state government, on Tuesday, had warned protesters of action against anybody forcing businesses to down their shutters or causing damage to life and property. On Wednesday, there was heavy police deployment across the state. Source: Hindustan Times