Even if the timing gives clues about the intent behind this announcement, it is not clear how BJP will convert a major policy loss into short-term electoral gains. True, it makes sense for BJP to be rid of the protest issue ahead of these polls. BJP can now hope to re-centre its campaign on more favoured themes such as nationalism, communalism, caste welfare schemes and law and order. But that may be a simplistic answer. In UP, armed protests had become an irritant to BJP’s campaign but not a major source of worry. Western UP accounts for only 44 out of 403 seats and a divided opposition will still help the incumbent chief minister secure a second term. But in UP, BJP may be looking beyond 2022 polls. Considering that its majority in Parliament requires them to keep sweeping the Hindi belt (they won 178 seats out of the 199 they contested in 2019,and 191 out of 212 in 2014), it cannot afford to let the political space get shaped by developments that do not fit in its political playbook. For instance, BJP is wary of broad class-based mobilisations that cut across caste and religious lines and speak of India .It would rather address voters as individual recipients of state generosity or as members of groups that can be mobilised through other tropes than economic performance, such as caste, religion, or national pride.

Also, the repeal does not remove the farmers’ concerns about their future. The sector needs attention and farmers have made it clear that they expect the state to step up intervention. Farmers will use their newly gained capital to mobilise and make demands. In other words, the laws may be repealed for now, but the issues that mobilised the farmers, including the minimum support price, remain salient.

Besides, farmers rightfully see this moment as their victory and not as a benevolent gesture from the PM. During the movement, protesting farmers endured all kinds of hardships. They have also endured attacks and vilification from the party in power and its ecosystem They have been labelled as separatists, Khalistanis, terrorists, fake farmers, “andolanjeevi” etc. They have been subjected to police brutality and state repression. Conceding to farmers’ demands after more than a year of their struggle will not translate into much political goodwill for BJP. Beyond electoral calculations, other factors may have informed the decision to repeal the farm laws. Farmers’ protests – and their movement became more than the assertion of specific demands: They turned it into a larger appeal to the government to respect democratic procedures, norms and values.

The form of protests themselves – the creation of a public democratic egalitarian space shared by both men and women and the state reaction became emblematic of the resilience of popular democratic aspirations in the face of institutional democratic procedures, norms and values. Much of the international media coverage of the protests interpreted it thus and affected the PM’s image abroad.

The questions raised by farmers about democratic norms and procedures were not addressed in the Friday speech. By making a surprise announcement on a day of special religious significance, the PM stuck to unilateralism that characterises his style of governance. The intervention also fell short of a proper apology, referring instead to the government’s inability to make a small minority of farmers realise the importance of the government move.

The decision to repeal the farm laws stems from an array of reasons rather than simple electoral calculations But the fact that the Prime Minister chose to let his image of a strong leader take a hit instead of standing firmly by a decision as he usually does – indicates that the protesters struck sensitive chords that made the party in power anxious about its future.

It proves that civic engagement can be effective against the government’s will and could encourage other movements to emerge along similar lines. (IPA Service)