Sharad Yadav supports 'Bharat Bandh' call, says people living in distress

Opposition leader Sharad Yadav on Thursday voiced support to the "Bharat Bandh" called by the Congress on September 10, saying the country was in a "great distress" as the Narendra Modi government had failed in discharging its duties and fulfilling its promises to the people.

In a statement, Yadav said almost all the opposition parties will support the bandh, which was announced by the Congress at a press conference on Thursday, and claimed that the governments of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in various states had been a failure as well.

"The people of the country are living in great distress and pain under the present rule. The most painful part is that incidents of atrocity are happening against Dalits, tribals and other backward classes," he added.

Violence against minorities in the name of cow protection had become a daily affair, Yadav alleged, while adding that the farmers' livelihood through livestock had also been badly affected.

"The government has failed on all accounts and its failures are innumerable," he said.