The Congress believes the repeal of the farm laws cannot undo the political damage that one of the greatest movements in the country’s history has inflicted upon the BJP because farmers believe these laws were not an aberration but reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mindset.

“The cheque Modi signed yesterday cannot be encashed,” senior Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar told The Telegraph, arguing that the Prime Minister had retreated only after exhausting all his ammunition.

“Farmers will continue to see Modi as the leader who thrust the farm laws upon them, not a saviour who repealed these,” Jakhar said.

The Congress, which celebrated “Kisan Vijay Diwas” across the country on Saturday, posted a terse message: “Don’t be fooled. It is not benevolence, it is not compromise; it is a calculated decision to achieve a single goal — power.”

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra underlined that the Prime Minister had failed to act against Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son is accused of mowing down farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri days after the minister himself had issued a public threat to them.

The Congress pointed to Modi’s silence on the more than 700 farmers who had died in the course of the movement, as also his claim that only some farmers were against the laws, as proof that he did not really care.

Jakhar said Modi had repealed the farm laws to salvage the situation for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due early next year. Punjab, which too will go to the polls at the same time, is a write-off for the party, he said.

“Whoever gets into the coalmine, the hands will be blackened. If Captain Amarinder Singh aligns with the BJP, he will be getting into the sinking ship,” the former Punjab Congress chief said.

Insisting that Modi has been exposed before the people of the country, Jakhar said: “All his flagship programmes have boomeranged. He started with an attempt to kill the Land Acquisition Act. Then CAA and GST angered people. The less said the better about the Covid mismanagement, and finally the farm laws.”

He added: “This wasn’t an ordinary protest, this was an inquilab (revolution). Modi didn’t realise he was biting off more than he could chew. His aura of invincibility is gone. People know he succumbed to the backlash.”

Ashish Mittal, general secretary of the All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS), echoed this sentiment. “Critical issues related to agriculture have now come to the forefront after this protracted and successful movement. They cannot be abandoned because the Prime Minister has unilaterally declared a repeal of the farm laws. What about the MSP, what about the doubling of income? Diesel prices, input costs, farmers’ suicide — all are linked,” he said.

Ruling out the possibility of the farmers changing their perception of the Prime Minister overnight, Mittal said: “His pro-corporate character is established. That he wants greater corporate penetration into agriculture is indisputable. What the new ministry headed by Amit Shah is doing to farmer cooperatives is not hidden from us.

“We have seen the sinister games the government played through the media during this agitation. His (Modi’s) handling of the movement threw up serious questions about his faith in democracy. We have lost 700 farmers. How will the farmers wipe the slate clean and start voting for the BJP?”

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi has announced that a memorial will be built to the farmers who lost their lives during the agitation. He demanded compensation for every life lost, and the MSP as a statutory right.

Portraying Modi as a disaster, Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala said: “Our bhashanjeewi Prime Minister failed to convince the farmers of the benefits of his attempt to dilute the Land Acquisition Act, failed to convince economists and citizens of the benefits of demonetisation, failed to convince traders of the benefits of GST, failed to convince the minorities of the virtues of the CAA, failed to convince the middle class of the benefits of high petrol-diesel-LPG prices, failed to convince industrialists of the benefits of Make-in-India. Finally, he failed to convince the farmers of the benefits of the farm laws. There is a limit to ignorance, sahib, the country understands everything, only the suit-boot government doesn’t.”

Many Congress leaders wondered how the BJP leaders who had passionately defended the farm laws were now welcoming their repeal and praising the Prime Minister’s wisdom.

Senior leader P. Chidambaram tweeted: “Home Minister hailed the Prime Minister’s announcement as showing ‘remarkable statesmanship.’ BJP president said that PM has ‘immense care for farmers’. Defence Minister said that PM had taken the decision considering the ‘welfare of the farmers’. Where were these worthy leaders and their wise advice in the last 15 months?”

Chidambaram raised another point: “Did you notice that the PM made the announcement without holding a Cabinet meeting? It is only under the BJP that laws are made and unmade without prior Cabinet approval.”