Jagjit Singh Dallewal: The Indian farmer leader on hunger strike for 40 days

In terms of demands, not much has changed from earlier protests. The farmers are pushing for their unfulfilled demands to be met, including a legal guarantee for the minimum support prices, a loan debt waiver, pensions for both farmers and agricultural labourers, no increase in electricity tariffs, the reinstatement of a land acquisition law, and compensation for families of farmers who died during previous protests.

But analysts say there seems to be a change in the way Modi’s government is responding to this round of protests.

During the protests in 2020, the federal government had held multiple rounds of talks with the farmers. Top officials, including India’s then agriculture and food ministers, were part of the negotiations.

Last February, when the farmers announced their intention to march to Delhi, key federal ministers held two rounds of talks with their leaders but failed to achieve a breakthrough.

But since then, the federal government seems to have distanced itself from the protests. Last week, when Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was asked by reporters if he would invite protesting farmers for talks, he said the government would follow any directives given by the top court.

Experts believe that the government is being cautious this time around to prevent a repeat of what happened in 2020. In October that year, a key meeting between the then agriculture secretary and farmers’ unions backfired badly, and catalysed the year-long protest that followed.