BBC News
The Indian government has withdrawn all three agricultural laws, but these laws have become a major political problem for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On November 29, the Indian government withdrew all three controversial agricultural laws in Parliament as quickly as it did a year and a half ago.
Prime Minister Modi is known as a tough and powerful ruler. He is not convinced to bow down and back down on his decisions and sayings, but Prime Minister Modi had to bow down to the farmers' movement which has been going on for a year.
"In the last few years, the government and the media have created a statement that there is no opposition to Modi," says Nokran Nat, a political activist associated with the farmers' movement.
Ordinary people were also convinced by the statement of "If not Modi then who". The people were looking for the Indian opposition in one person, one face. This movement proved that the opposition is in the people of the country, in the collective movements.
Farmers did not end their movement even after the controversial laws were repealed. Now these farmers are demanding a constitutional guarantee of a minimum support price for the crop. They are now preparing for talks with the government and sticking to their demands.
Many farmers' leaders have accused the government of trying to divide them.
Some economists say the withdrawal of agricultural laws has dealt a severe blow to India's privatization and economic reform process. He says that more than 70% of farmers in India work on small plots of land which is insufficient for their sustenance and prosperity.
According to economists, the new agricultural laws were aimed at removing these farmers from farming and putting them to better employment. It would also empty their lands which would be bought by big farmers or they would be used for industrial and urban development.
The government said it had enacted the laws to increase farmers' incomes and improve their conditions. According to the government, they wanted to introduce the concept of open market through these laws where farmers could get better prices for their produce. However, according to the government, farmers could not understand the nature of these laws.
Farmers are happy with the repeal of these laws but they do not trust the government. Their fight is long.
Ayub Khan, a farmer from Mehboob Nagar village in Haryana, says, “The three laws were withdrawn by the government but now the government has enacted a law guaranteeing a fixed price for the crop. Without it, farmers will not benefit. We will not back down until the government agrees to our demands. "
Another farmer, Mohad Omar Syed, said: "The farmer is dying. If the government oppresses the farmers then how will the government survive. It is the farmers and the common man who make the government corrupt.
Rakesh Takit, a leader of the Indian Farmers' Union and a key leader of the protest movement, said: "The minimum fixed price or MSP is the central point of this movement. It will benefit everyone. The government should also appoint MSPs for the vegetable, milk and fishing industries.
Tikit says the government has turned its back on fears of possible harm in the upcoming state elections.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram says by-elections were held a few weeks ago for 30 seats in various assemblies. The BJP had won only seven seats. The arrogant Modi government is only afraid of electoral defeat.
Assembly elections are scheduled for next February in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.
Analysts believe that Prime Minister Modi's decision to abruptly withdraw these laws after taking a very strong stand against farmers for a year has been taken in view of the Assembly elections in these states.
BJP leader and former Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik had said in a recent interview, "I told Modi that these agricultural laws are wrong. If he is not withdrawn, the BJP will lose in the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab elections, and Modi will lose the 2024 parliamentary elections.
There are reports that BJP and RSS workers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab were warning the government that if the farmers' movement continues, the BJP may suffer heavy losses in the elections in these states. ۔
Prime Minister Modi had no choice.Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in the country. Here the BJP is in power with an overwhelming majority. Winning here is politically and psychologically important for the BJP.
Farmers in western Uttar Pradesh were at the forefront of the protest movement. The BJP had won the last elections in the region unilaterally. This time the situation may change.
"In the last seven years, the BJP has come to feel that it is invincible," she said. The Modi government did not face any resistance. This movement is a slap in the face to the BJP. This could be the beginning of the fall of the BJP.
The extent to which these laws and the peasant movement have harmed the BJP will be gauged in the coming months elections but this movement has definitely shown that no matter how powerful a leader is in a democracy, he is not invincible. ۔
