Farm laws repeal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on withdrawal of the three contentious farm laws surprised everyone including workers and supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the government and the ruling party were defending and hailing these laws as "historic" in agricultural reforms and refused to budge even under the pressure of the united protest by farmers' bodies. While the ruling BJP views the announcement as a political masterstroke to turn the tide, the agitating farmers' bodies view it as their victory may bolster their movement for a law to guarantee Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for grains produced by farmers in the country. The announcement preceding the winter session of the parliament, scheduled to commence on November 29, and ahead of the announcement of the dates of assembly elections to five states - Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur due in February/March appeared to have been hastened by the electoral worries of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over continued farmers' movement. The BJP's electoral arithmetic going haywire in some of the states in recent assembly and parliament by-polls sounded the alarm bell for the ruling party's poll strategists to rearticulate the government's position on farm laws to prevent opposition parties from capitalizing on farmers' dissent in the poll-bound states. The BJP hopes that the deft political move on farm laws will deny the opposition parties the opportunity to make the protest over farm laws an issue on the floor of the parliament but the likelihood of the MSP issue returning to the centre stage of deliberations in the parliament may compel the ruling party to go back to the drawing board. The Modi government is on the back foot on the farm laws also reflects the power of people's movement and implications of attempts to delegitimise such movement instead of rapprochement. This is not the first time that laws passed by the parliament have been rolled back. Earlier in 2015, the previous BJP-led government at the Centre was compelled to eat the humble pie on an amendment of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 following widespread protest and allowed the ordinance to lapse before assembly polls in Bihar in 2015. The Prime Minister announced that the procedure to roll back the laws would take place in the winter session of the parliament and urged the agitating farmers camping at Delhi's borders since November 2020 to return to their homes. The announcement coming unilaterally and not out of a discussion with farmers' bodies has only added to the trust deficit between the government and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the banner organisation of farmers bodies that spearheaded the movement against the three farm laws. The SKM has indicated this by announcing that they would wait for the announcement to take effect through the due parliamentary process. In its immediate reaction to an announcement made by the Prime Minister, the umbrella body of the agitating farmers stated that their agitation is not just for repeal of three farm laws, but also a statutory guarantee of remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and all farmers. The SKM also claimed that 700 farmers have been "martyred" during the movement against the farm laws and therefore the demand for compensation to the families of these farmers may gain ground along with the intensified movement for a legal guarantee for MSP. For the BJP, ignoring the issue of MSP will be difficult as it has the potential to gain popularity among farmers in states who are mostly dependent on corporate or private procurement of their surplus paddy and other crops. The current MSP regime in the country is primarily executive driven and farmers bodies expressed the apprehension that under the farm laws the corporate giants may manipulate the prices, and this may ultimately lead to the gradual collapse of the mandis under the Agricultural Produce Market Committees in states which provides the platform for ensuring MSP. The Prime Minister while announcing the rollback of defended the farm laws to be beneficial for small and marginal farmers which indicate that agricultural reforms will continue to be on the agenda of the Central government and that the BJP is expected to take the campaign to these sections of the farmers in the poll-bound states as well as other parts of the country how they have been deprived as reforms meant for them were scuttled by "agitations by a section of farmers backed by opposition parties. Changing international situation and compulsion of food security demands undertaking timely reforms in agricultural activities of production and marketing. The decision to roll back farm laws being compelled by long-drawn agitation of farmers teaches a lesson that holding widespread consultation with all stakeholders with an open mind before pushing the reforms, can save the country from unwarranted disruptions.