Almost a year-long farmer’s protest movement against three contentious farm laws rammed through the Indian Parliament in September 2020, scored an unexpected victory when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the staunchest backer of those farm laws, today announced their repeal. On many occasions, Modi had labelled the farm laws as part of “historic reform” in agriculture.
The laws were designed to expand transnational food cartel control within India, through so-called liberalized “free trade” (rigged against farmers,) marketing, which would jeopardize the food supply and farmers’ livelihoods both. They were promoted as “modernizing” agriculture, by ending traditional farm supports and sales systems, which, whatever their problems, served the national interest.
While Modi did not cite any official reason behind repealing the laws, some in the Indian media reported the decision comes just ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament that is scheduled to commence on Nov. 29. In the last session of Parliament, the opposition attacked the government strongly over the laws, and it led to acrimony and impacted the functioning of the Houses, the Indian Express reported today.
In addition, The Wire news site pointed out Modi’s decision came only a few months ahead of the crucial assembly elections in India’s most-populous state, Uttar Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing another term in power, and Punjab, where it has lost its most-dependable ally—the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)—in the course of the farmers’ movement. The victory of the farmers’ movement also marks the Modi government’s first real defeat in the last seven years.
