There are few politicians who’ve made an entrance on their first day in Parliament quite like India’s newly elected Amra Ram. Riding into Delhi on a blue tractor, the first-time Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP and farmers’ leader is already making waves.
Ram swept to victory in Rajasthan’s Sikar constituency last spring, in a general election that saw support for Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plummet. The BJP had expected a supermajority of some 400 seats, but instead were reduced to forming alliances to stay in power after winning just 240. Revolts by Indian farmers against Modi’s three neoliberal farm laws in 2020 and 2021 were a key factor in his electoral setback.
