Massive farmers’ protests are a headache for Narendra Modi
Even if the recent ones have been contained, discontent remains
Protesting farmers are an alarming sight for India’s government. With nearly two-thirds of Indians dependent on farming for their livelihood, agricultural workers can make or break elections. They can also stymie policy making. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) discovered this three years ago, when farmers marched on Delhi, the capital, eventually forcing the government to repeal a big set of reforms intended to deregulate India’s agricultural market. It was one of the few political defeats Mr Modi has suffered in a decade in power.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The actual opposition?”
From the March 2nd 2024 edition
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The Adani scandal takes the shine off Modi’s electoral success
The tycoon’s indictment clouds the prime minister’s prospects
Priyanka Gandhi: dynastic scion, and hope of India’s opposition
Poised to enter parliament, she may have bigger ambitions than that
The Caspian Sea is shrinking rapidly
This has big implications for Russia, which has come to rely on Central Asian ports
Racial tensions boil over in New Zealand
A controversial bill regarding Maori people punctures its relative harmony
Once a free-market pioneer, Sri Lanka takes a leap to the left
A new president with Marxist roots now dominates parliament too
The mystery of India’s female labour-force participation rate
A good news story? Maybe