Mr Tomar blamed “some people” for the scrapping of the controversial laws – repealed in Parliament with the same lack of debate and discussion that heralded its passing – and then seemed to suggest that all three “black” laws re-appear at a later date.

“We brought the agriculture amendment laws. But some people did not like these laws, which, after 70 years after Independence, were a big reform under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership,” the Agriculture Minister said.

“But the government is not disappointed… we moved a step back and we will move forward again because farmers are India’s backbone,” he said, at an event in Nagpur on December 24.

Two days before it scrapped the farm laws, the government issued a note on ‘Objects and Reasons’.

The note, signed by Mr Tomar and released to members of Parliament, blamed a group of farmers for standing in the way of “the endeavour to improve the condition of farmers…”, and said the government “tried hard to sensitise farmers on the importance of the farm laws”.

Last month Prime Minister Modi – in a stunning announcement just three months before elections in UP and Punjab (where farmers’ votes are key) – said the three farm laws would be withdrawn.

The government’s  U-turn – after senior figures, including the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister, spent months verbally attacking the protesting farmers and defending the three laws – raised questions from the opposition, who pointed to elections on the horizon.

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Notable among the candidates is RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, the opposition Grand Alliance’s Chief Ministerial candidate, who is seeking re-election from Raghopur in Vaishali district which he had took back for his party from the BJP’s Satish Kumar in 2015.

Also in the fray is Tejashwi’s elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who after shifting his base from Mahua in Vaishali is trying his luck from Hasanpur in Samastipur district.

The last day of campaigning witnessed hectic canvassing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing four back-to-back rallies in support of NDA candidates. BJP candidates are involved in 46 of the seats, while another 43 are being contested by those with JD(U) tickets. Mukesh Sahni-led Vikassheel Insaan Party, the latest entrant in the NDA, is contesting the remaining five.

A voter turnout of 55.69% was recorded in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls held on October 28, the Election Commission said in its provisional data. Polling was held 71 assembly constituencies amid tight security and COVID-19 guidelines in place.

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The announcement comes over a week after Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the cabinet in protest against three ordinances- The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal has said the party was never consulted on the ordinances, and that Harsimrat , his wife, had informed the government about farmers’ reservations.

SAD was one of the oldest allies of the BJP. It was amongst the first to support the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal is a founder member of National Democratic Alliance.

The two Bills – which seek to replace Ordinances passed in June – were passed in Parliament by voice vote and await the assent of the President. SAD had voted against the Bills.

Farmers in Haryana and Punjab have been agitating against the Bills. On September 25, SAD held large protests across Punjab as part of its ‘chakka jam’ programme to express solidarity with farmers even as it asked CM Amarinder Singh to call an immediate Cabinet meeting and pass an ordinance to declare the entire state as one mandi (Principal Market Yard) to ensure the central agricultural Bills are not enforceable in the state.

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