Aligarh calm,protests elsewhere

Both the Congress and the BJP supported the bandh. While BJP state president Surya Prasad Shahi,along with supporters,were arrested near the partys office here,AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh,who is also in-charge of UP,and UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi participated in the demonstration at Dadri.

In Agra,farmers blocked a road near Chhaleshar-Kuberpur village on NH-2. They set afire a state roadways bus.

Farmers blocked roads at different points on Aligarh-Palwal road,besides in different areas of Khair Tehsil. Though Aligarh is the epicentre of the agitation following the August 14 clash between farmers and the administration,on Wednesday the protest passed off peacefully there. The farmers blocked the road near Tappal and organised a dharna under the KSS banner, a source in Aligarh said. The other points where farmers blocked the road included Sofa Nahar and Jattari villages. In Aligarh town,Congress supporters stopped the Lichchavi Express for a few minutes.

In Mathura,supporters of BJPs youth wing stopped a passenger train at Mathura Junction. Later,they handed over a memorandum to the authorities in support of the farmers demand. They also tried to enforce bandh in Mathuras markets. The Congress workers,led by MLA Pradeep Mathur,made an attempt to block the Mathura-Delhi highway,but the administration stopped him from doing so.