New Delhi: A lack of consensus among opposition parties on how to protest led to a mixed response to the nationwide agitation against the demonetisation drive. While many states like Kerala and Tripura experienced a complete breakdown, most places saw only rallies and political speeches.
The ruling BJP was quick to dismiss the nationwide protest, terming it as a “flop show”. Though the Opposition claimed to be committed to the show of strength— which they named as ‘Jan Akrosh Diwas’ — against the Modi government’s biggest financial, its ranks remained divided on the modus-operandi of the protest with the Left parties calling for a complete ‘Bandh’ and others like the Congress and Trinamul saying it would just be a protest and not a complete shutdown.
The major chink in the opposition armour came when the Janata Dal (United), led by Nitish Kumar had over the weekend distanced himself from the protest and supported demonetisation.
The day began with the opposition holding an early morning meeting in the Parliament followed by a Congress-led demonstration in front of the Gandhi statue.
A meeting of all the opposition parties, barring JD(U), was held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad in Parliament where it was decided that the protests will continue till their demands are met. In Tamil Nadu, hundreds of workers from opposition, led by DMK, were arrested.
