In rare show of weakness, Narendra Modi bows to farmers

Narendra Modi has dominated politics in India for seven years. With broad public support and big majorities in Parliament, the prime minister has pushed through dramatic and sometimes damaging policies. His government has fiercely advocated a Hindu-focused nationalist agenda and used increasingly heavy-handed tactics to silence critics, with little effective opposition.

On Friday, with a rare retreat, Modi suddenly does not look quite as dominant.

Modi said his government would repeal three farm laws aimed at fixing the country’s struggling agricultural sector, in a surprise concession to yearlong protests by farmers worried that the overhauls would ruin their livelihoods.

The government, he said in a televised address, “will begin the procedure at the Parliament session that begins this month. I urge the protesting farmers to return home to their families, and let’s start afresh.”

Also read: Farm laws repealed: Change of heart or strategic withdrawal?

Modi timed his announcement for Guru Nanak Jayanti, a holiday celebrated by Sikhs, in a nod to India’s minority Sikh community, who make up the base of the protest.

“Today, I beg the forgiveness of my countrymen and say with a pure heart and honest mind that perhaps there was some shortcoming,” he said.

The speech stunned Indians accustomed to Modi’s usual stance as a muscular leader impervious to criticism. But it signaled that his standing has weakened amid a variety of problems, including a disastrous response to a second wave of the coronavirus and a struggling economy.

In May, his Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a decisive loss in elections it had considered winnable, in the state of West Bengal. Polls show the BJP’s lead in Uttar Pradesh — a state seen as a bellwether for the national vote and which will hold elections early next year — has weakened.

Also read: Farm laws: A retreat in the face of polls

Some of that weakening may be a result of the farmer protests. After more than a dozen rounds of failed negotiations, the farmers changed tactics this fall, shadowing top officials of Modi’s government as they campaigned in Uttar Pradesh and across northern India.

Protest leaders Friday greeted Modi’s turnaround with cautious optimism, with plans to meet at the main protest site in New Delhi to discuss next steps.

For now, Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farmer leader and activist, said farmers would continue their siege outside the borders of New Delhi until Parliament formally repealed the three laws.

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