After a landslide re-election in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s control over India seemed impossible to challenge.

But a yearlong farmers’ protest against agricultural overhauls has done just that, forcing the Indian prime minister to back down.

How did the protesters succeed?

Guest: Emily Schmall, a South Asia correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• The protesters received foreign and domestic financial support, kept their camps organized and looked for ways to be seen while trying to avoid violence.
• How a bungled response to Covid and a struggling economy have hurt the governing party’s standing in India.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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