The Maharashtra
Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, has called for a
strike on Monday to protest against the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur
Kheri district last week where eight people, including four farmers, died. The
coalition, which comprises the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP), jointly announced the strike on Sunday.

Nawab Malik, Maharashtra’s
skill development minister, said, “I request 12 crore people of Maharashtra to
support the farmers. Support means all of you join the bandh and stop your work
for a day.” The state government has said that everything will be closed except
for essential services.

The government’s
decision to shut down the state has come under criticism from businesses. A
traders’ union in Maharashtra has objected to the bandh saying that businesses
in the state are only limping back to life after intermittent lockdowns amid
the COVID-19 pandemic and a bandh at this time will really hurt them.

“We oppose the
killing of farmers in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri. Whoever was responsible for the
killings should be punished,” said the Viren Shah, chief of Federation of
Retail Traders’ Welfare Association (FRTWA), adding that they do not support
the bandh called by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.

Violence broke out in
Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3 after a car from BJP
leader and Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s convoy allegedly rammed farmers
protesting against new agriculture laws. Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra, has
been accused of murder and was arrested on Saturday.

Also Read | Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Did holes in alibi lead to Ashish Mishra’s arrest?

The incident has seen
opposition parties slam the government. Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and
Rahul Gandhi have met the families of farmers who died on the day and have
criticised the government on its position on the farm laws. Akhilesh Yadav,
chief of Uttar Pradesh’s main opposition party, also lodged a protest and was
detained from outside his home.