Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (19 November) suffered his most humiliating political defeat when he announced that he is repealing the three farm laws which led to massive protests in Punjab, Haryana, and the poll-bound state of Uttar Pradesh on Guru Nanak Jayanti.
Modi said that there will be a Constitutional process for repealing all the three farm laws that will begin next month during the next session of the Parliament.
In his address to the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, PM Modi said, “Today I want to tell everyone that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws as I have experienced farmers’ difficulties, challenges from very close quarters in my five decades of public life,” PM Modi said.
However, Modi made it very clear that the goal of the three farm laws which was introduced by his government was to empower farmers, especially small farmers, and appealed to the protesting farmers to end their protest.
In his speech, Modi did emphasize that his government had introduced the laws after due deliberation but could not convince all farmers that the laws were meant for their benefit. He pointed out, past governments had deliberated on these laws as well but it was the Modi government that had implemented them.
The so-called farmers have been protesting at the Delhi border since had passed the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
However, this u-turn is more political as it gives Captain Amrinder Singh who just formed a new political party after leaving the Congress leverage as a broker, and at the same time, farmers who are protesting will now have to end their struggle.
But this could have other implications as it would not embolden the opposition and it is quite possible that the anti-CAA protest that crippled the capital could find traction again and with the AAP government led by the opportunistic Arvind Kejriwal will give his support.
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