‘Apology to countrymen': Couldn't convince a section of farmers on agri laws, will repeal all three, says PM

Gurpurab Outreach: ‘Will Scrap In Winter Session’

- Akhilesh.Singh

New Delhi: In a decision that took the nation by surprise, PM Modi on Friday offered an apology for being unable to convince a section of farmers about the benefits of the new farm laws and announced that they would be withdrawn in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.

Promising a new start to agitating farm unions, the PM justified the three laws meant to allow freer trade and introduce contract farming as beneficial to farmers. He lamented that a small section failed to see this fact even when it was as clear as the light of a lamp, but refrained from pointing a finger. “There must have been shortcomings in our own efforts,” he said.

This was the second significant retreat, not counting the reluctance to follow through with the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by preparing the National Population Register, when the PM has retraced steps on a major initiative. In the earlier instance, the government allowed the ordinance to change the Land Acquisition Act to die a slow death.

This time, Modi made no bones about the retreat. His address to the nation on Gurpurab, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, seemed a deliberate outreach to the Sikh community in Punjab where farmers have been particularly agitated over fears that a new system of private mandis will sound the death knell for the minimum support price-based procurement. The symbolism was in keeping with the PM’s visits to gurdwaras on special days and the decision to open the Kartarpur Sahib corridor—all intended to woo Sikh opinion.