Thousands of Indian farmers converge on New Delhi to demand guaranteed production prices. In 2021, a powerful protest movement pushed the government back.
In India too, farmers are (again) angry. On Tuesday, while thousands of farmers were on their way to New Delhi, some farmers had trouble with the police as demonstrators tried to break down barricades set up by the police.
The authorities had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd and demonstrators were arrested at one of the border points in the northern state of Haryana which leads to New Delhi.
Farmers are demanding guaranteed prices for their crops as in 2021 when a powerful protest movement ended up forcing the government to bend.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had withdrawn controversial farm laws that sparked previous protests in which tens of thousands of farmers camped outside the capital during a harsh winter and a devastating wave of COVID-19.
Farmers are demanding legislation guaranteeing a minimum support price for all agricultural products while the government only protects prices for certain essential crops at the start of the sowing season.
Farmers are also putting pressure on the government to fulfill its promise to double their income and waive their loans. They say they will demonstrate in New Delhi until their demands are met.
The withdrawal of the farm laws in November 2021 was seen as a major setback by the Modi government.
Tensions rose that year when tens of thousands of farmers stormed New Delhi’s historic Red Fort.
“We don’t want to break any barricades. We want our problems resolved through dialogue. But if they (the government) do nothing, what will we do? This is our constraint,” Sarwan Singh Pandher, leader of one of the farmers’ groups, told reporters on Tuesday.
The protesters’ spokesperson said discussions between farm leaders and government ministers on Monday failed to reach consensus on their main demands and the government refused to make a decision.
The current march, called “Delhi Chalo” or “March to Delhi”, takes place just months before national elections in which Prime Minister Modi is expected to win a third term.
The protests could nonetheless pose a significant challenge to the nationalist leader and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party because farmers form the most influential voting bloc in India and politicians have long considered it unwise to alienate them.
The stakes are high in Haryana and Punjab, where farmers make up a significant population, as the two states send 23 lawmakers to the lower house of India’s Parliament.
India’s opposition Congress party said it would respond to farmers’ demand for a law guaranteeing a minimum support price if voted to power in the upcoming national elections.
“This is Congress’s first guarantee on the path of justice,” party leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on X.
Some farmers’ and labor unions also announced a nationwide rural strike on Friday.