Agricultural laws will be repealed by the government, but farm protests will continue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a surprise speech to the nation on Friday morning that his government would repeal three agricultural regulations that sparked one of the most politically difficult periods in decades for farmers.

"Today I have come to tell you, the whole country, that we have decided to withdraw all three agricultural laws," Modi said addressing the nation on the birth anniversary of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak. "I urge farmers to return home to their families and let's start afresh." In the nationally televised address, Modi added: "In the Parliament session starting later this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal these three agricultural laws."

Farmers were opposed to the laws from the word go. Tens of thousands of them are still campaigning in various states against legislation they say will jeopardise their livelihoods.

The decision to withdraw the laws comes ahead of crucial state elections in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous political bellwether state, and Punjab, where farmers are an influential voting bloc.

Reacting to the announcement, Rakesh Tikait, a prominent farm leader from Uttar Pradesh, said: "We are not withdrawing the protests. We will wait and watch to see what happens. Also, we want a law on MSP (minimum support prices)."

The campaign to secure a formal guarantee for support prices will continue, according to farm-union leaders. "It is the victory of millions of farmers who did not give up. It is a victory for democracy but a partial victory. We had two demands, one (was to) repeal the three laws. Second, give us a legal guarantee of minimum support price, something the prime minister had himself demanded when he was chief minister of Gujarat. That has not been considered yet. That struggle will go on," said Yogendra Yadav, another key leader of the farmers' movement.

Modi claimed that the regulations, which went into effect in September 2020, would have provided long-term benefits and opened up additional marketplaces for farmers to sell their produce, but that his government was unable to persuade a segment of the farming community.

According to Gurnam Singh Charuni, a farm leader from Haryana, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a forum of farm unions challenging the rules, is planning to call its decision-making panel.

"We have several mahapanchyats (farmers' rallies) in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. As of now, we will go ahead and plan them," Charuni said.

Influential farm unions from food-bowl states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra joined the movement against the three laws to liberalise agricultural commerce, turning it into a full-fledged campaign against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Farmers are sceptical of the regulations, claiming that they will put them at the whim of huge corporations, who will be able to dictate pricing and wean them off of a state-subsidized price system.

Farm unions, mostly from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, have been staging year-long sit-ins on Delhi's borders at four locations.

The government claims that the changes will not affect an existing state-backed system of controlled markets that guarantees farmers guaranteed prices, but that they will open up agricultural commerce, increase farm investment, and raise farm incomes.

The regulations attempted to remove barriers to farm produce commerce by establishing free markets, allowing food traders to stockpile significant quantities of food for future sales, and establishing a national framework for contract farming based on written agreements.

As the protest grew in strength, farm leaders began to focus more on the Modi government's economic agenda, calling recent steps to divest state-owned firms a "sell-off."

The protests in Uttar Pradesh reached a turning point on October 2 when a convoy of cars, including one belonging to Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, smashed into demonstrators, murdering four farmers. In the ensuing fighting, four more people were slain. In this case, the minister's son has been detained.

"Farmers sustained their agitation and this created a certain narrative and awareness across the country that injustice was being done. Since it was an autonomous movement, no political party could take credit for it. This created a space for the government to announce withdrawing the laws," said KK Kailash, a professor of politics at the University of Hyderabad.