The rally, days before general elections are expected to be called in an exercise that will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek a rare third term, comes a month after police wielding tear gas and water cannons halted a farmers’ march outside New Delhi.

“Through this meeting, we want to show government authorities that we are not too far from reaching our goals,” Darshan Pal, of a farmers’ group, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), told news agency ANI.

“We can surround Delhi whenever we want.”

There was no immediate comment from the government or Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but they have said in the past they are committed to the welfare and prosperity of farmers, who form an influential voting bloc.

Groups of farmers listened to their leaders’ speeches while intermittently chanting slogans against Modi and his government, which had stopped the Feb. 13 march at a spot about 200 km (125 miles) from New Delhi, at which the farmers camped.

Police threw up barricades, tightened security, and warned of traffic congestion in preparation for Thursday’s rally at the capital’s Ramlila Maidan, a popular site for gatherings.

Farmers from states such as Maharashtra in the west and Odisha in the east were undeterred by the high turnout of police and paramilitary.

“This is a one-day event meant to serve as a reminder to Modi government of their unfulfilled promises,” said Narendra Singh, a farmer from the northern state of Haryana.

Farmers say the Modi government had committed in 2021 to set up a panel to find ways of ensuring support prices for all produce but had been going slow on it.

They also want the government to honour a promise to double their incomes and act against a federal minister whose son was arrested during similar protests in 2021 after being accused of running over and killing four protesters.

Concessions before elections

“Our main demand is a legally guaranteed minimum support price,” said 39-year-old Utpal Biswas, from the eastern state of West Bengal. “Today’s protest is supposed to last for a day but we will see how it progresses.”

With the elections due by May, allowing the farmers to gather in the capital, even though under strict conditions meant to ensure public order, is seen as a concession from the government which has blocked them outside the city in the past.

“Today is an important day because the government has finally come under pressure from farmers and farmer groups,” Jairam Ramesh, a spokesperson of the main opposition Congress party, told ANI.

“In the end, they have got permission for a gathering (in Delhi).”

Farmers say at least one protester has died in clashes with police over the last month and dozens more have been injured.

Modi suffered his biggest political defeat two years ago, when a similar year-long protest forced him to repeal some farm reforms.

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Thousands of farmers began a ‘Delhi Chalo’ (Let’s go to Delhi) march last week but were stopped by security forces about 200 km (125 miles) north of the capital, with water cannons and teargas being used to push them back.

Farmer leaders on Thursday announced a series of “mega programmes” across India to press their demands. The “Black Day” on Friday will be followed by a tractor rally on highways on Feb. 26, and a farm workers’ public meeting in Delhi on March 14.

Black flags were hoisted on tractors and trolleys lined up at the protest site on Friday. Several protesters, most of whom are Sikhs from the northern state of Punjab, also tied black cloth over their turbans in solidarity.

Farmers also burnt effigies also of Home (interior) Minister Amit Shah and the chief minister of Haryana state, whose police force they accuse of using force against them, and chanted slogans demanding minimum prices for their crops.

A general election is due by May.

Protestor’s death

The farmers paused their march for two days on Wednesday after the death of a protester, which they blamed on police aggression.

Sartaj Singh, a senior police officer in Punjab’s Sangrur district, where the incident took place, said the man died at a protest site but that the cause of his death would be known only after the autopsy.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday announced compensation of 10 million rupees (C$162,800) for the dead man’s family.

Farmer leaders rejected the compensation and said they would not allow the autopsy to be conducted until a murder case is registered.

“We will have a meeting in the evening to decide next steps (regarding the march),” farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters.

Amnesty International condemned the protester’s death and urged the government to “respect, protect and facilitate the right to freedom of peaceful assembly”.

“The price of protest must not be death,” said Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India.

Nihang Sikh warriors join protest

Protesting farmers have come under the protection of the Nihang Sikhs, a warrior sect dating back to the 1600s distinguished by their ink-blue robes and ancient weapons such as swords and spears.

The farmers are also mainly Sikhs and who hail from the northern state of Punjab.

After the farmers paused protests, Wednesday, following a demonstrator’s death, Nihang warriors honed their skills by practicing fencing, horseback riding and meditating while they waited for the march to resume.

Easily distinguishable by their flowing robes and matching turbans, several Nihangs say they joined the march to “protect” the farmers.

“Guru Gobind Singh has preached that Sikhs must always be ready to fight injustice and oppression,” said Sher Singh, one of the Nihangs referring to the spiritual leader of the Sikhs.

“We have to be prepared if these protesters face any trouble even in the middle of the night.”

India’s minority Sikh community makes for more than half of Punjab’s 30 million population, and the Nihangs took part in a similar, year-long farmers’ protest in 2021.

–Additional reporting for Reuters by Rupam Jain.

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The farmers, mostly from the northern state of Punjab, have been demanding higher prices backed by law for their crops. They form an influential bloc of voters Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot afford to anger ahead of general elections due by May.

Farmers’ leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters they would pause their protest for two days and deliberate their next course of action until Friday after the government offered anew to resume talks on farmers’ demand for guaranteed crop prices.

“The government is ready to discuss all the issues,” Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda posted on social network X.

“I again invite the farmer leaders for discussion. It is important for us to maintain peace.”

Earlier on Wednesday, protesters – some wearing medical masks- ran into fields near their gathering-point on a highway about 200 km (125 miles) north of New Delhi after police fired tear gas.

Pandher claimed that one protester was killed and three injured at another protest site 100 km away, but police in Haryana state denied it.

Video clips on local media showed police using water cannons and farmers aiming a hose pipe of water at the site.

On Monday, the farmers’ groups rejected the government’s previous proposal for five-year contracts and guaranteed support prices for produce such as corn, cotton and pulses.

Highways blocked

The farmers, accompanied by cranes and excavators, began marching at 0530 GMT from a spot on a key highway where authorities had erected barricades on the border of Punjab state with Haryana.

“It is not right that such massive barricades have been placed to stop us,” said one of the farmers’ leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal. “We want to march to Delhi peacefully. If not, they should accede to our demands.”

Police in riot gear lined the highway as the farmers waved colourful flags emblazoned with symbols of their unions.

Late on Tuesday, Haryana’s police chief ordered the immediate seizure of heavy equipment brought by the farmers, to keep protesters from using them to destroy barricades.

About 10,000 people had gathered on Wednesday, along with 1,200 tractors and wagons at Shambhu on the state border, police in Haryana posted on X.

Security was stepped up at entry points to New Delhi, ensnarling traffic to the city of more than 20 million. Two key entry points north of the city have been shut for days and traffic diverted.

An earlier government proposal of minimum support prices to farmers who diversify their crops to grow cotton, pigeon peas, black matpe, red lentils and corn was rejected by the protesters, who wanted additional food grains covered.

Similar protests two years ago, when farmers camped for months at the border of New Delhi, forced Modi’s government to repeal a set of farm laws.

–Additional reporting for Reuters by Anushree Fadnavis, Francis Mascerehnas and Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi.

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