Farmers have historically been at the mercy of the ruling establishments, and if seen in this backdrop, Modi’s retreat can be interpreted as strengthening of the farmers as a group into an irresistible force, at least for the time being. Apart from the retreat of the ‘strongest’ political leader in the country at this time, the farmers have also made all anti-BJP parties support their cause in hope of gaining mileage over the ruling party at the Centre or in the states, particularly in the five states where assembly elections are around the corner, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

No one can fail to see the political change, particularly in the two states. In Punjab, NDA had broken at the beginning of the farmers protest last year, and ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) parted ways with BJP, fearing loss of its support base among the farmers. Other parties such as ruling Congress and the opposition AAP have also been talking in support of the farmers.

In Uttar Pradesh, especially in Western UP, no political party can even think of politics without talking about resolving the longstanding issues of farmers. Every political party is seen championing farmers’ cause there. The changing political contours are seen not just in these two states but in states across the country, from north to south and from east to west.

Apart from the government’s decision and cabinet ratification of the repeal of the three controversial laws, the farmers’ movement has made certain other achievements that have great potential to change the game of politics in India. The first among those is the popular belief that ‘no one can put goad on a mighty elephant like Modi’. This belief turned out to be false. Modi is not invincible. He can be made to ‘retreat’, though he may bring forward his own narrative, insisting that only he is right and everyone else wrong. The incident has not only brought his party’s morale down but also boosted the confidence of opposition parties. We may therefore witness closer contests between the BJP or NDA and the opposition than ever before since the emergence of Modi as a political force. Modi cannot hope for a walk over now, even if the BJP or AIMIM try to whip up communal passions.

The achievement of the farmer’s agitation actually goes beyond agriculture and agri-market and as such has implications for common citizens who have neither the power no voice to get their grievances addressed by the authorities. There is at last some ray of hope for the common man. The achievements are aptly put forward by the SamyuktaKisanMorcha, the joint platform of farmers’ unions, in unambiguous ways. “The movement created a sense of unified identity for the farmers, cutting across regional, religious, or caste divisions, farmers are discovering a newfound sense of dignity and pride in their identity as farmers, and their assertion as citizens. It has deepened the roots of democracy and secularism in India.”

The most important achievement is indeed the cracking of regional, religious, or caste division, the implications of which will be seen not only in the election-bound states, but the nation as a whole. Both the regional and national political parties have picked up threads from this event, and are trying to enlarge their support base beyond their favourite castes and religious communities. By chosingGuruparva for the announcement of repeal, Modi tried to play religious, read communal, card to attract Sikh farmers, but failed. Farmers are still united irrespective of their religions.

Despite the announcement of repeal and approval for it by the cabinet, the farmers’ agitation continued, and SKM is meeting on November 27 to decide its future course of action. It is most likely that their agitation will continue since several demands are still pending, including MSP as a legal right, change in the method of its calculation, withdrawal of cases against farmers and the Electricity Amendment bill, and compensation for those 700 who lost their lives in the course of the agitation. On November 28, a massive Kisan-MazdoorMahapanchayat is also scheduled in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, in which not only farmers but also workers and common citizens will participate.

Another important achievement of the agitation is the unity of farmers and workers who have jointly participated in the action programme against the anti-farmer and anti-worker laws and policies of the Modi government. It has all the potential to become a stronger movement which can drastically impact the country’s political contours, since the joint platform of 10 central trade unions are also agitating against the four controversial labour codes demanding scraping of the same. (IPA Service)