Punjab’s farmers have once again brought their demands to the doorstep of the state’s political establishment, with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) beginning a seven-day “pakka morcha” at the Chandigarh-Mohali border.
The protest, scheduled from September 1 to September 7, has brought a large mobilisation of farmers and tractor-trolleys to the IISER-Jagatpura Road near the Mohali Golf Club. Farmers have arrived with food supplies, cooking utensils, gas cylinders, motorcycles and other essentials, indicating that the protest has been planned as a sustained sit-in rather than a brief demonstration. Reports from the protest site say hundreds of tractor-trolleys have reached the area, while farmer organisations had earlier prepared a much larger mobilisation from different parts of Punjab.
The location is politically and geographically significant. The Chandigarh-Mohali border is one of the busiest corridors linking Punjab’s administrative capital with Mohali, the airport route and adjoining urban areas. The protest has already prompted police authorities in Chandigarh and Mohali to introduce traffic restrictions and diversions.
The agitation is not centred on a single demand. Instead, it brings together several long-standing agricultural, economic and Punjab-specific issues, putting both the state government and the Centre under pressure.
At the centre of the farmers’ demands is a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price, or MSP. For Punjab’s farm economy, this is a particularly important issue because large sections of farmers remain heavily dependent on the wheat-paddy procurement system. Farmer organisations argue that merely announcing MSP is not enough unless farmers have an enforceable mechanism ensuring that their produce is purchased at or above the promised price.
The SKM is also demanding a complete waiver of loans of farmers and agricultural labourers. Debt has remained one of the most politically sensitive issues in rural Punjab, where rising input costs, uncertain crop returns and dependence on credit have placed pressure on farming households.
The wider list of demands includes issues relating to Punjab’s river waters, the state’s representation in the Bhakra Beas Management Board, compensation connected with earlier farmer protests, crop insurance, land acquisition and withdrawal of cases registered during previous agitations. The farmers are also opposing proposed free-trade agreements with the United States and European countries, arguing that such agreements could expose Punjab’s agricultural sector to greater competition and put farm incomes under further pressure.
The water issue gives the current agitation an additional political dimension.
For Punjab, questions over river-water sharing have historically been linked not only to agriculture but also to regional identity and the state’s claims over its natural resources. The SKM has demanded that earlier agreements concerning Punjab’s river waters be revisited and has called for a special session of the Punjab Assembly on the issue.
The protest therefore places the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in a complicated position.
Some of the farmers’ demands are directed primarily at the Union government, particularly MSP, trade agreements and certain national agricultural policies. Others concern the Punjab government directly, including issues related to farmers’ debt, compensation, water rights and the implementation of state-level commitments.
That distinction will be important politically. The AAP government can argue that several demands fall within the Centre’s jurisdiction, but farmers may still expect the Punjab government to act as their political representative and press New Delhi for solutions.
This is where the agitation could acquire significance ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly election.
The next election is still months away, but political parties are already preparing for a contest in which rural sentiment could play an important role. Agriculture remains central to Punjab’s economy, political culture and electoral calculations. A prolonged confrontation between farmers and the AAP government could therefore become an important campaign issue if it is not resolved.
For Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the timing is particularly sensitive.
The AAP government has consistently sought to project itself as pro-farmer and has highlighted measures concerning agriculture, electricity supply, procurement and rural welfare. But a visible farmer mobilisation at the Chandigarh border creates a contrasting political image: that sections of the farming community remain dissatisfied with the government’s response to their demands.
The Opposition parties are likely to use the protest to question the AAP government’s relationship with the farming community.
Congress and other political parties can portray the agitation as evidence that the state government has failed to fulfil expectations created during the 2022 election campaign. The BJP, meanwhile, is likely to argue that several of the demands concern the Union government and that the Punjab government cannot resolve them on its own.
The Shiromani Akali Dal also has a natural political interest in the issue because farmers and rural Punjab have historically been central to its political base. With Punjab’s political landscape already beginning to take shape ahead of 2027, a renewed farmers’ movement could provide regional parties with an opportunity to regain political space.
Yet the political impact will depend largely on how the protest develops.
If the seven-day morcha remains peaceful and negotiations begin, the issue could eventually be absorbed into the wider political dialogue. If the government fails to respond or the protest expands beyond September 7, however, it could become a much bigger political challenge.
The physical impact is already being felt by commuters.
Chandigarh and Mohali police have introduced barricading and traffic diversions because of the farmers’ presence. One side of the road at the border has been restricted, forcing traffic to move through the available carriageway. The road connecting the IISER intersection towards Bestech Mall, Phase 11, Mohali, and Jagatpura towards Chandigarh has also been affected, with commuters being advised to use alternative routes.
The traffic implications extend beyond ordinary commuters. The Chandigarh-Mohali corridor is used by people travelling towards the airport, offices, hospitals, educational institutions and commercial areas. Authorities have therefore been preparing for substantial disruption during the week-long protest.
But for the farmers, the disruption is part of the strategy: bringing the protest close to the political and administrative centre is intended to make their demands impossible to ignore.
The current mobilisation also reflects the continuing influence of the farmers’ movement that transformed Punjab’s politics during the protests against the three contentious farm laws several years ago. Although the political circumstances have changed, many of the issues that emerged during that period — MSP, procurement, debt, agricultural markets and the relationship between farmers and government — remain unresolved in the eyes of farmer organisations.
The SKM’s latest protest is therefore more than a routine demonstration.
It is a test of whether Punjab’s political leadership can manage an increasingly complicated relationship with its farming community without allowing the dispute to become another prolonged confrontation.
For the Mann government, the immediate task is to maintain public order, prevent unnecessary disruption and open a channel for negotiations. For the farmers, the challenge is to sustain pressure while keeping the protest peaceful and maintaining public support.
And for Punjab’s political parties, the larger question is already emerging: who can credibly claim to represent the state’s farmers when voters return to the polling booths in 2027?
The answer may depend not only on who supports the farmers from outside the protest site, but on who is able to deliver concrete results on MSP, agricultural debt, water, procurement and rural livelihoods.
For now, the tractors remain parked at the Chandigarh-Mohali border, the protest is scheduled to continue until September 7, and Punjab’s farming question has once again moved from village discussions to the centre of the state’s political conversation.
