Indian farmers ready for mass protests over crop prices

Indian police on Monday blocked roads to halt farmers who were marching to New Delhi to press for the better crop prices promised to them in 2021 when thousands of growers camped out on major highways leading to the country’s capital.

Some government ministers are expected to meet farm union leaders on Monday to avoid a repeat of the year-long protest, which was aimed at forcing the government to repeal farm laws designed to deregulate vast agricultural markets.

The march comes just months before national elections in India, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to win a third term.

India’s millions of farmers form an influential voting bloc and ruling parties try to keep growers on their side.

Television footage showed farmers in tractors driving towards Delhi from the northern Indian breadbasket states of Punjab and Haryana, and barriers including barbed wire fencing and cement blocks put up on the edges of the city to stop them.

Police also issued orders prohibiting public gatherings in Delhi.

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