Farmers' agitation against three new laws acquires an anti-BJP edge

The govt's bid to 'criminalise' farmers' dissent seems to have ended up infusing new energy into the agitation: Those who had gone back exhausted to villages have returned emotionally charged

Curtains came down on the first phase of the farmers’ agitation amid a growing perception that the events of January 26 in Delhi were a ‘conspiracy’ to malign and delegitimise the movement. It has now entered a second phase where it will be potentially less tractable. 

Following its ham-handed playbook, the Narendra Modi government tried to criminalise farmers’ dissent but it has ended up infusing new energy into their agitation. Those who had gone back exhausted to the villages have returned to the protest sites emotionally charged. The Jat community in Western UP was enraged by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s)