Farmers’ Protest Underscores Modi’s Challenges Before Elections
- Farmers gathered in Delhi demanding better prices, loan waiver
- Lower prices after bumper harvests hurt incomes, farmers say
Farmers protest in New Delhi on Nov. 21, 2017.
Photographer: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Thousands of farmers protested in India’s capital, demanding better prices for their crops and relief from high debts, underscoring the challenges Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces before elections in his home turf Gujarat next month and nationally in 2019.
Representatives from 184 farmer organizations squatted on a road leading to the parliament building in the heart of New Delhi, demanding a nationwide waiver of crop loans on the lines announced by some states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, higher prices for their produce and lowering seeds and fertilizer costs.