First set back for Modi – Farm Laws

 

Narendra Modi led BJP government got more than 300 seats in Lok Sabha in 2019 which made him to rule without any outside pressures. After this juggernaut victory in elections, BJP had successfully passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Due to two successive coronavirus waves in the country, the BJP government has not started to implement CAA. Even though people are facing troubles, the BJP government has increased petrol and gas prices continuously. The Modi government has backtracked on the blow to farmers who have been anxiously tireless for almost a year over the new cultivation laws. Three bills Farmer Products Trade and Trade (Promotion, Facilitation) Act - 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment, Protection) Price Guarantee, Agricultural Services Act - 2020, Commodity Amendment Act – 2020 were passed in September 2020.

Farmers are in agitation for more than one year against the three farm bills. More than 600 farmers lost their lives in the agitation. No matter how fervently the farmers are agitating against the agricultural laws, no matter how many hundreds of lives are lost and protests are going on all over the country, Prime Minister Modi has abruptly announced that he is abruptly repealing those laws. At least his own party leaders did not anticipate the decision. In fact, it is not new for Modi to announce overnight decisions that are crucial and have a profound impact across the country. There are also views that there is a broader political perspective behind the recent decision to repeal agricultural laws. Ever since the Modi government introduced the agricultural laws in Parliament, there has been intense protest from the peasantry. Farmers in the northern states, where the impact is most prevalent, have raised concerns on a large scale.

Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states have set their sights on the national capital, Delhi. Leaving behind farm work and families, exposed to the sun and rain, they set up tents in the suburbs of Delhi and continue to agitate. Whether the farmers continue their agitation unabated, the BJP government does not count. Moreover, the BJP government has been saying that the laws they have brought are great and will not increase the income of the farmers, except for Sikhs and Jats. On the other hand, the prices of petrol, diesel, gas and essential commodities in the country have gone up as never before. This started the public opposition to the Modi government. It was revealed in successive elections along with various surveys. The first blow to the BJP came in the West Bengal assembly elections. No matter what the difference is now in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leadership hopes that by the time of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, opposition to them will have spread further, including in the states where elections will be held later.