India’s two richest men caught in crossfire over farming

Farmers’ concerns: A farmer harvests paddy crop in a field on the outskirts of Kolkata. Farmers fear that the removal of state support will make them vulnerable to market-driven price fluctuations. — AFP

MUMBAI: Two of India’s richest men have landed in an unlikely controversy over farming laws, becoming targets of protesters who allege the tycoons have benefited from their close links to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

For weeks, tens of thousands of farmers have camped outside the nation’s capital, demanding the withdrawal of recently passed legislation they say, without evidence, was designed to allow billionaires such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani to enter farming. The tycoons say they have no such interest. More than 1,500 phone towers of Ambani’s wireless carrier were vandalised last month and some farmers called for a boycott of their businesses.