Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his biggest policy reversal since assuming power in 2014, scrapping controversial farm laws ahead of crucial state elections following a year of persistent street protests. In a televised address to the nation on Friday, Modi apologized for failing to convince a section of farmers and said the parliament will repeal the legislation in the session that starts later this month. When lawmakers passed the bills in September 2020 in a bid to boost investment and productivity, Modi had hailed them as “a watershed moment in the history of Indian agriculture.” “The purpose of the new laws was to strengthen the country’s farmers, especially small farmers,” Modi said on Friday. “We have failed to convince some farmers despite all our efforts.” The announcement comes ahead of crucial elections including in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most-populous state, which is considered a crucial indicator of national sentiment ahead of the next national election in 2024. While polls show Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is set to win with a reduced majority, his move on Friday suggests he’s getting nervous. Five Indian states will hold elections in the first half of 2022, including Punjab, a state home to many Sikh farmers who have spearheaded the protests by tens of thousands of farmers that began roughly a year ago. Modi’s announcement came on a national holiday celebrating the founder of Sikhism, one of India’s main religions. “This is a pretty substantial climb down for Modi,” said Akhil Bery, director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “This shows that maybe the BJP are more worried” about upcoming state elections “than they’re letting on,” he added. Even if it helps Modi’s party win the votes, it’s unclear what that means for his reform agenda. While he has backtracked on policy moves by his government earlier, including on land laws, the repeal shows how politically difficult it will be for India to overhaul a sector that helps support about 60% of the nation’s 1.4 billion people. Prior to last year, India’s system for buying and selling crops had remained largely unchanged since the 1950s. The laws, which had already been suspended by the Supreme Court in January, allowed farmers to sell crops directly to private firms instead of licensed middlemen at state-controlled markets. While Modi has said the laws will help them earn more cash, farmers feared those companies wouldn’t give them minimum prices set by the government. Also, central to Modi’s reforms was an amendment to the Essential Commodities Act passed in 1955, which sought to cap prices during times of higher demand -- disincentivizing investment to increase production. “The basic purpose of bringing these reforms was to increase income of farmers through creating an enabling environment in the sector and to have more investment in agriculture infrastructure,” said P. K. Joshi, secretary of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the former director for South Asia at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “Now we are where we were earlier on reforms. It will be a setback for foreign direct investment and agriculture investment.” Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake