Bharat Bandh: Demonstrations, marches held in UP, normal life remains largely unaffected

Lucknow: The Bharat Bandh had little impact on normal life in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, even as Dalit groups and political parties held demonstrations and marches in parts of the state.

Shops were open and it was business as usual in large parts of the state. Security was tightened in view of the day-long bandh called by some Dalit and Adivasi groups against a recent Supreme Court order on reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) extended their support to the bandh.

In Lucknow, traffic was affected on key routes in and near Hazratganj as BSP workers held a demonstration. In other parts of the city, normal life remained unaffected and markets were open.

A large number of BSP workers and supporters gathered at Ambedkar Chowk in the heart of Lucknow city for a demonstration.

In Prayagraj, Rapid Action Force personnel in riot gear were deployed to maintain law and order.

A group of protesters held a march and raised slogans in Agra. BSP workers disrupted traffic on MG road, climbed atop the gate of the collectorate and raised slogans. They also tried to shut shops in the city.

The protesters presented a memorandum to the district magistrate.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Suraj Kumar Rai told reporters, "Supporters of various organisations presented a memorandum to the district magistrate against the Supreme Court ruling." "There was no law and order problem in the city during the protest," he said.

In Kanpur, some shops near the BSP's office were closed while public buses plied as usual.

Similar scenes were witnessed in Unnao, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Sambhal, Jalaun, Etawah, Mathura, Hathras and Gorakhpur, among other districts.

"The BSP will submit a memorandum to the district magistrate because we are opposed to the ending of the reservation, which is being done by the Supreme Court on the instructions of the government," a BSP worker told PTI Video at the party office in Prayagraj.

The Bhim Army also held protests in pockets of western Uttar Pradesh where it has a sizeable presence.

"Today's mass movement is a clear message to central and state governments that now the Bahujan Samaj will not allow the conspiracy of divide and rule to succeed," Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) president and Lok Sabha MP from Nagina Chandra Shekhar Aazad said in a post on X.

Ahead of the bandh, the state police stepped up vigilance with Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar monitoring the situation from the headquarters.

DGP Prashant Kumar inspected the control room set up at the police headquarters in view of the Bharat Bandh and gave necessary guidelines for maintaining law and order in the state during the strike, Uttar Pradesh Police said in a post on X in Hindi.

Twenty-one organisations across the country called for the Bharat Bandh against the August 1 Supreme Court order which they have said will harm the basic principles of reservation.

The top court held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within SCs, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward among them.