The Narendra Modi government has allowed the protesting farmers passage into Delhi after moving heaven and earth for two days to block them by digging up a national highway, using water cannons and firing tear-smoke canisters.

Around 3pm on Friday, the Centre agreed to let the farmers enter Delhi and proceed to the Nirankari Samagam Ground in Burari where they will be allowed to camp.

With the Modi government still sticking to its earlier date for talks — December 3 — the farmers’ organisations are gearing up for the long haul. Although the offer of talks is to farmers from Punjab, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has demanded that all peasants’ organisations be involved in the discussions. The AIKSCC is among the prime movers of the agitation.

In a statement, the AIKSCC stressed that the farmers had very specific demands — repeal of three new farm laws and withdrawal of the proposed Electricity Bill, 2020, besides a legally guaranteed minimum support price. The bill envisions a pruning of the power subsidy and more privatisation.

The government, sources said, had wanted to avoid a prolonged agitation in the capital, wary of having to deal with another Shaheen Bagh-like situation.

The State machinery’s use of its full force to stop the farmers, however, has proved counter-productive for now. Not only did the farmers dig their heels in, the government’s iron fist generated sympathy for them.

Attempts on social media to draw on Lal Bahadur Shastri’s “Jai jawan, jai kisan” slogan and accuse the government of turning the “jawan” against the “kisan” would also have influenced the government’s tactical switch, given the importance the current disposition attaches to slogans.

While the government has yielded on one count, parallel efforts are on by the Right-wing ecosystem to run down the farmers’ protest.

Apart from amplifying complaints about traffic snarls, the government’s supporters are also highlighting stray incidents of violence by the farmers and comments by some of the motor-mouths among them, besides alleging Khalistani links.

The excessive use of force by the government has caught international attention.

British Labour MP and shadow international development secretary Preet Kaur Gill on Friday commented on a photograph of farmers being water-cannoned. She tweeted: “This is no way to treat citizens who are peacefully protesting over the controversial Farmers Bill in India.”

The Dalai Lama tweeted and then deleted the following message: “A farmer takes care of his land not out of some sentimental affection for the soil, but because his livelihood depends on it. We, likewise, have to look after the community we live in. Having a sense of universal responsibility is not only relevant, it brings satisfaction.”

The AIKSCC said it was for the government to lay its cards on the table for the negotiations to start.

The AIKSCC is a constituent of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which has been set up to coordinate the “Dilli chalo” protest that has brought farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to Delhi.

Now that the Centre has allowed the farmers entry to Delhi and given them a designated spot to protest, the AIKSCC is anticipating an inflow into the city over the next couple of days and will decide its course of action accordingly.