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00:00 More than dozens of protesting Indian farmers have been detained en route to New Delhi,
00:05 delaying their plan again to converge on the capital to demand higher crop prices.
00:09 Thousands of farmers, mostly from the northern state of Punjab, launched their march last
00:13 month, demanding higher guaranteed prices for their produce, but they were stopped by
00:17 police about 200km north of the capital.
00:20 We're going to cross live then to New Delhi, speak to our correspondent Pavni Mittal, who
00:24 joins us from there.
00:25 Pavni, the farmers say they're still very, very determined, don't they, to carry on here?
00:31 Yes, thousands of farmers, particularly from northern India, have resumed their march and
00:38 they are determined they will take a couple of days to reach the capital, but they are
00:43 very keen and they said they will march on.
00:46 This is, as you just said, not an easy journey because on the way they have to deal with
00:50 increased security in terms of security personnel, also barricades, barbed wires.
00:57 The borders of New Delhi particularly have been fortified.
01:01 They are also asking farmers from other parts of the country, particularly central and southern
01:07 India to join in.
01:09 They will take at least two or three days to reach here and farmers are asking them
01:14 to join them by protesting and blocking rail lines for about four hours on Sunday.
01:21 Now these protests have been going on for some time now.
01:24 They actually began last month but had been halted at least twice.
01:29 The first time when the government reached out and tried to get some negotiations underway
01:35 with farmers' unions, but those talks broke down.
01:39 And then there was the tragic death of one protester, one young farmer who reportedly
01:44 died during police clashes about a fortnight ago.
01:48 It was at his funeral that farmers said they have decided to now continue their march and
01:54 reach their destination which is here where I am, New Delhi.
01:59 We shouldn't forget of course that this is all happening right as India is heading towards
02:03 elections in just over a month's time.
02:07 Yes, I mean the timing of this is crucial and that is the variable that has put the
02:16 government on the back foot when these protests are concerned.
02:19 And to understand the importance of this you really have to rewind a couple of years when
02:24 farmers began their protests in 2020, in September, protesting three agricultural reforms.
02:33 Those laws were eventually rolled back and farmers called off the protests a year later
02:39 and this was just months ahead of critical state elections because the government was
02:45 hoping to get majorities in states that these farmers had come from.
02:50 And now you have a similar situation where farmers from particularly northern India are
02:56 agitated again and they are an important voting bloc.
03:00 Prime Minister Modi and his party have reiterated that they want an even bigger majority in
03:06 parliament this election so they cannot afford to alienate a voting bloc like the farmers.
03:13 And also the visuals of this, it doesn't exactly send a pro-people message.
03:18 So they really are in a situation where they're trying to quell these protests.
03:23 Farmers on the other hand know that elections is when they have leverage.
03:29 So they know that at least as things stand they do have an upper hand.