New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS): Political activist and farmer leader Yogendra Yadav termed the Bharat Bandh (nationwide shutdown) observed on Monday a success and said that farmers have given a befitting reply to the government's falsehoods.

Addressing the farmers and mediapersons, he said, "A propaganda was being created for the past few months by telling masses that this protest was being carried out by a few people. Earlier they said only Punjab is protesting, followed by the addition of Haryana. After a while they started agreeing that farmers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan are also participating in the demonstration."

"However, they did not stop there because then they started arguing that it is only taking place in North India. If it is a farmers' problem then why are South, East and West India not opposing the three laws? Today, the farmers have aptly answered all such questions," he added.

Listing the number of states which observed the bandh, Yadav said, "Kerala was completely shutdown today after both ruling and opposition parties supported the move. So was Tamil Nadu with its closed markets. Moving to Karnataka which is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, thousands of farmers under Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha sat in front of the Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly), bringing the state to a halt."

"In Andhra Pradesh, both the ruling YSR Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam Party supported the Bharat Bandh. Farmers protested and a few of the leaders were arrested in Telangana. Similar reports have emerged from West Bengal, Patna, Jharkhand and Adivasi regions like Jalgaon in Maharashtra," he added.

Yadav along with Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait and other farmer leaders has been leading the protest against three new farm laws since 2020.