Why PM Modi's Decision To Repeal Farm Laws Is A Well Calculated Move Ahead Of 2022 UP Elections

Farm Laws Repeal: The central government was earlier not ready to budge from its decision on the 3 agricultural laws passed last year. So, how did they suddenly have a change of heart?

File photo of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait talking to protesting farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border in Ghazipur | Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that his government has decided to repeal all three contentious agricultural laws against which farmers had been protesting for almost a year now. In his address to the nation, he said that a proposal to abolish these laws will be tabled in the next session of Parliament.

He said that these laws were brought only for the betterment of farmers, but they "failed to convince some farmers". The PM also appealed to the agitating farmers to return home.

It was evident earlier that the central government was not ready to budge from its decision on the three agricultural laws passed last year. So, how did they suddenly have a change of heart?

There is a well-thought-out strategy behind this. This is a well calculated move keeping in mind the upcoming elections in five states, including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, early next year. At present, efforts are being made to prove that the road to the seat of power in Delhi comes through Lucknow. 

In UP, BJP Was Voted To Power After 14 Years Of Exile

UP assembly elections are a huge factor behind the election. The BJP came to power in the state with a huge majority in 2017 after 14 years of exile. 

Farmers have been agitating for nearly a year against the agricultural laws. There was a fear that the BJP was losing ground in western UP.

The party's  position in UP Purvanchal is not the same as before. Om Prakash Rajbhar, who was an ally of NDA in the last election, has joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav. An attempt was made by the BJP to portray the UP farmers' movement as a Jat movement.

It was from western UP that the BJP laid the foundation for victory across the country in 2014. Amit Shah, called BJP's Chanakya, had devised a strategy for it after the Muzaffarnagar riots.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its allies won 73 out of 80 seats. This story of success was repeated in the assembly elections of 2017.

The BJP does not want to lose this state at any cost. And the decision to withdraw the farm laws, hence, evidently appears to be a calculated move.