Tamil Nadu is bracing for a dawn-to-dusk bandh supported by Opposition parties on Friday on the Cauvery with police deploying thousands of personnel across the state to ensure peace even as a youth set himself on fire in Chennai on Thursday over the water sharing row. The bandh call given by several farmers and traders bodies, including Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Federations and Tamil Nadu Vanigar
Sangangalin Peramaippu (a traders’ collective) is supported by main Opposition party DMK, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, MDMK, PMK, TMC, CPI(M), and CPI. Protesters have also called for rail and road ‘rokos’. Primarily to protest the violence targeted against the Tamils in Karnataka, the bandh is also aimed at seeking Cauvery water for the state and a final solution to the problem. Ruling AIADMK and trade unions affiliated to it have been non-committal on their participation in the bandh.
