NEW DELHI — India will repeal three controversial farm laws that led to angry street protests by farmers’ unions over the past year in what is described as the biggest climbdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed power in 2014.

Thousands of farmers have been camping at Delhi's borders for a year, protesting against the reforms. They say the laws will allow the entry of private players in farming and that will hurt their income.

Several rounds of talks with the government over the past few months failed as ministers insisted that laws were good for farmers.

In a televised address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister apologized for failing to convince a section of farmers and said the parliament will repeal the controversial legislation by end of the month.

“The purpose of the new laws was to strengthen the country’s farmers,especially small farmers,” he said. “We have failed to convince some farmers despite all our efforts.”

Modi also urged farmers "to return home to their families and let's start afresh".

The move doesn’t threaten the government but the backtracking could potentially dent Modi’s image as a strong and decisive leader.

The announcement comes ahead of key provincial polls where farmers are an influential voting bloc and the yearlong protests by hundreds of thousands of farmers could determine its outcome. The government had, so far, refused to budge from its position which protesting farmers claimed would ruin their livelihoods, making it the longest stand-off yet under Modi’s rule since 2014.

The government had insisted the new laws — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act — would benefit the growers and refused to withdraw the legislation.

The Supreme Court too had ordered temporary suspension of the laws, but the agitators had refused to compromise.

Parliament passed the three farm laws in September last year. They had first come in June in the form of three separate ordinances before being approved by Parliament by a voice vote.

While addressing the nation, Modi said, "Whatever I did, I did for farmers. What I'm doing is for the country. With your blessings, I never left out anything in my hard work. Today I assure you that I'll now work even harder, so that your dreams, and the nation's dreams can be realized."

But some farm leaders and economists who saw merit in the laws have expressed disappointment over their repeal. Anil Ghanwat, head of a farmers' union in western India, said it was an unfortunate decision driven by political considerations.

Opposition parties welcomed the decision, with Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi calling it "a win against injustice". And West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, took to social media to praise farmers and congratulate them.

Haryana cabinet minister Anil Vij was among the first to hail the decision. “All farmer organizations should express their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and immediately lift their dharna (sit-in) and go to their homes and start their regular work,” he tweeted.

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana are celebrating the news, raising flags of victory and distributing sweets. But they say the fight is not over.

"We have no faith in a verbal promise. Unless we see it in writing that the laws have actually been repealed, we will stay here," Raj Singh Chaudhary, a 99-year-old protester, told the BBC's Salman Ravi.

Chaudhary is among hundreds of farmers who have been striking at the Delhi-Ghazipur border for a year.

His view was echoed by Rakesh Tikait, a prominent farmer leader who said they would call off the protest only after the laws were repealed in the winter session of parliament.

Another farmer leader said they needed additional promises from the government around assured prices for their crops to end their protest.

The announcement has stunned political observers as well as those who both support and oppose the laws - many tweeted saying it was a huge victory for the farmers and a "major climbdown" for Modi.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella group of some 40 farmers' unions, had refused to back down despite appeals from the government to end their protest.

Farmers continued to block motorways to Delhi through harsh winter and summer months and even through deadly Covid waves. They called for strikes across the country and dozens of them even died due to cold, heat and Covid.

The government initially engaged with them and offered to put the laws in abeyance for two years. But after farmers rejected their overtures, the authorities retreated, preferring to go with the wait-and-watch attitude.

But two things changed in the last few months.

First, the son of a federal minister allegedly drove his car into a group of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur in Uttar Pradesh in early October. He denied the allegation, but was arrested. Eight people, including four farmers and a journalist, were killed in the incident which sparked outrage across the country and put the government on the back foot.

Second, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is up against strong regional parties in the upcoming elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the government knows that angry farmers would hurt the BJP's chances of winning the crucial polls.

BJP members said the decision to repeal the laws had nothing to do with the polls and the decision was taken to end the protest. They did not say if there were plans to bring back the laws in another form later. — Agencies