Modi govt repeals controversial farm laws, Opposition calls it farmers' victory

In a national address, Modi, the top leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, "Today, I want to tell everyone that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws."

"We will finish the process to repeal the law in the upcoming Parliament session."

PM Modi addressing nation | Image Credit: Twitter/BJP

The new laws, which was controversially enacted amid COVID-19 pandemic, would have facilitated the farmers to sell their produce beyond the regulated wholesale market.

However, farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, who camped in and around Delhi for almost a year as a protest, fear they would be left at the mercy of the private players once the laws are enforced.

Image Credit: UNI

Even after several rounds of talks with the farmers, the government, which was ready to postpone the laws' implementation, was unable to find a solution as the protesters wanted the complete rollback of the reforms.

As the Modi government took a rare step of taking back laws, the Opposition from Left to Congress to regional parties have started calling it as a victory for the farmers, taking political mileage ahead of the state polls.

Image Credit: UNI

Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Farmers have made arrogance bow down. Congratulations for the win against injustice. Jai Hind. Jai Hind's farmers."

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, Mamata Banerjee, tweeted, " My heartfelt congratulations to every single farmer who fought relentlessly and were not fazed by the cruelty with which @BJP4India treated you. This is YOUR VICTORY! My deepest condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones in this fight."

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo, Arvind Kejriwal, tweeted, "What great news was received today on the day of light. All three laws were repealed. More than 700 farmers were martyred. Their martyrdom will be immortal. The coming generations will remember how the farmers of this country put their lives on the line to save agriculture and farmers. I salute the farmers of my country."

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted, "It's the victory of farmers and the country. It's the defeat of capitalists, their protectors and the government."

The CPI-M has put up a tweet which reads, "Kisans have taught Modi Govt a fitting lesson - dictatorship does not work! We Remember and pay homage to the Kisan Martyrs!"

The Critique: 

Gurcharan Das, a best selling writer and former CEO of Procter and Gamble, who is a strong votary of the farm laws that the PM announced to repeal now, had argued in his article that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the world’s great communicators, "forgot this lesson and didn’t win the nation’s support for the three farm bills before enacting them in June [2020]".

"His government resorted to stealth, pushed the farm bills through Parliament without talking to the opposition, states, or farmer organisations. This led to false rumours that the price subsidy (MSP) and government procurement would go away soon and corporate farming would replace peasant farming," he wrote in an article in Times of India.

He wrote that a "third lesson is that a small, organised, and well-funded group in a democracy can hijack the nation’s interest when the majority is silent and unorganised."

"Behind the protests are arthiyas, buying agents in APMC mandis, who stand to lose Rs 1500 crore a year in commissions, plus rich farmers of Punjab, who are part of the 6% of India’s farmers who benefit from the MSP regime, according to the 70th round of the NSS. Both are powerful. The arthiyas finance elections, are often politicians and leaders of farm unions," he wrote.