On September 2, a one-day national strike brought much of India to a halt. Eleven central trade unions — national-level bodies affiliated with major political parties — issued the stop-work call.

At the last minute, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) union pulled out of the strike. This was to be expected: the BMS has close ties to the ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as both belong to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization.

Even without the BMS’s participation, however, union leaders expected the strike to draw large numbers, due to increasing discontent with the BJP’s anti-worker labor reforms.