NEW DELHI — Narendra Modi has dominated politics in India for seven years. With broad public support and big majorities in Parliament, the prime minister has pushed through dramatic and sometimes damaging policies. His government has fiercely advocated a Hindu-focused nationalist agenda and used increasingly heavy-handed tactics to silence critics, with little effective opposition.
On Friday, with a rare retreat, Mr. Modi suddenly doesn’t look quite as dominant.
Mr. Modi said that his government would repeal three farm laws aimed at fixing the country’s struggling agricultural sector, in a surprise concession to yearlong protests by farmers worried that the overhauls would ruin their livelihoods.
The government, he said in a televised address, “will begin the procedure at the Parliament session that begins this month. I urge the protesting farmers to return home to their…
