Mumbai, July 23 -- Thousands of students, citizens and workers of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) participated in a protest march across Pune on Thursday, responding to the statewide Maharashtra Bandh called by VBA president Prakash Ambedkar to protest the police action against students demonstrating at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and demand the resignation of union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Maharashtra Bandh evoked a mixed response across the state, though Mumbai was relatively unaffected. Still, shops remained closed in the suburbs of Mumbai where VBA has a presence.
Interacting with media persons here on Thursday, VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar claimed that nearly 3,500 of his party's workers were detained in Mumbai on Wednesda...