Indian Capital Locks Down As Farmers Mass To Protest Crop Prices

(Bloomberg) -- Police in Delhi and the neighboring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have blocked major city access roads using metal barriers, concrete barricades and barbed wire in an effort to halt thousands of farmers marching to demand guaranteed crop prices and loan waivers, three years after crippling anti-reform demonstrations that choked the Indian capital for months.

Protest organizers and government officials held a nearly five-hour long meeting Monday evening, according to farmer group leaders. But with no agreement, thousands of cultivators are now planning to move on tractors toward Delhi, where they aim to congregate at Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century observatory and traditional protest point.

“The talks failed, which means farmers will be marching toward Delhi,” said Shiv Kumar Sharma, a farmer from the central state of Madhya Pradesh, who attended the meeting. 

With a general election just weeks away and loathe to see a repeat of farm protests that began in late 2020 and lasted for close to a year, Haryana officials on Monday ordered restrictions in the areas near the state border. Delhi police, meanwhile, have banned gatherings, rallies and marches across the city for a period of 30 days.

Read more: Farmers’ Revolt Threatens Election Year Upsets Around the World

“The government always wants to find the solution to any problem through talks, and that is how we should resolve this issue,” Arjun Munda, minister for agriculture and farmer welfare, told reporters late on Monday. “We will try to protect the rights of all farmers and the people of this country.”

One of the key demands from the farmers is a minimum price for each crop - a system which the government has said in the past will be a struggle to adopt universally, beyond key staples. However, farmers are a hefty voter base and a mass demonstration will be difficult for the government to ignore as it seeks a third term in power.

“The government is only asking for time to delay and ramp down protests,” said Sarwan Singh Pandher, a farmer leader.

Many of the protesting growers are from key northern farming states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, in part because of proximity to their land.

Farmers’ groups have also called for a national strike on Friday, alongside trade unions, women’s organizations and students.

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