India’s Farmers’ Movement Helped Thwart Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi’s plan to win an electoral supermajority ended in failure this month. A communist leader of India’s farmers’ movement explains how their struggle contributed to Modi’s biggest setback since taking power.
Farmers shout slogans against Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during a protest to demand minimum crop prices on the outskirts of Gurdaspur, India, on May 24, 2024. (Narinder Nanu / AFP via Getty Images)
The results of India’s national elections, declared on June 4, were humbling for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Narendra Modi. The BJP, which had been boasting that it could win four hundred or more seats, instead saw its seat share drop from 303 in 2019 to 240 this year and was obliged to form a coalition to remain in power.
The election outcome was significantly influenced by the farmers’ movement, which forced the BJP-led government to suspend its proposed farm laws in 2021. That movement resumed its activity on the eve of the election. The BJP vote declined in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, where the farmers’ movement has been active.
Amra Ram is a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (the CPI[M]) who was elected to the Indian parliament this year for the Sikar constituency in Rajasthan as part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. He is also a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS, or All India Farmers’ Union), the peasant wing of the CPI(M). He spoke to us about the ongoing impact of the farmers’ movement on Indian politics.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.