Thousands of Indian farmers gathered across the country from Punjab to Tamil Nadu to demonstrate against a long-awaited trade deal with the United States, an agreement that protesters say could hurt domestic agriculture.

Thursday’s rallies — which went ahead even after the U.S. watered down its language around the deal — underscore the challenge faced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as he seeks to slash punitive U.S. tariffs while still shielding India’s rural economy and maintaining some trade with Russia.

India’s tens of millions of small farmers are a vital political constituency in the world’s most populous nation, and any threat of sustained nationwide protests evokes memories of 2020 and 2021, when growers paralyzed the capital and mounted Modi’s most significant challenge in over a decade at the helm.

Crowds of farmers in Punjab — joined by industrial and rural workers — chanted slogans against Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump, as the gathering also voiced opposition to other rural policies, including employment initiatives and proposed legislation on seeds and electricity.

“This is a betrayal of the country,” said Raminder Singh, member of the National Coordination Committee of Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a farmer group that is among the organizers. He accused the Indian government of surrendering to Trump, adding that a flood of U.S. imports would threaten domestic farmers. “We do not support this open-ended trade deal with the U.S.”

The government has repeatedly sought to dampen rural concerns. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has emphasized that sensitive agricultural products, including dairy and poultry, are excluded from negotiations, and has said would be no concessions on imports of key genetically modified crops, a hot-button issue for the ruling party. While New Delhi has not explicitly opposed GM crops as a position, legal and other blocks have effectively kept them out, with the exception of cotton.

New Delhi’s concessions will almost certainly push open more parts of the country’s $580 billion agricultural sector, though. Concessions already include allowing imports of DDGS, or distillers dried grains, an ethanol byproduct used in animal feed which in the U.S. is largely made from GM corn. Lower duties on soybean oil should also make U.S. supplies more competitive.

“This government is trying to sell the sovereignty of our country by cutting deals,” said Ramesh Parashat, a senior leader with All India United Trade Union Centre. “They want to open the agriculture sector to corporates.”

Trump announced a surprise deal early this month after a call with Modi, posting on social media that he would slash tariffs in return for more purchases of U.S. goods and an end to Russian oil purchases. The agreement was cheered as an end to months of acrimony, but details from the Indian side have remained sparse. Changes to U.S. language have only added to the uncertainty.

A revised fact sheet issued by the White House this week removed a reference to pulses — a staple food for Indian households — and softened language around purchasing commitments.

While Punjab, an agricultural heartland, has seen some of the largest protests, other demonstrations popped up elsewhere across the country’s north to Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south. Hundreds of people came together at New Delhi’s popular protest site, Jantar Mantar, an area near the parliament buildings that includes a historic observatory. Waving flags and banners, the crowd expressed anger over a range of issues, including the revamped labor policies.

“This free trade agreement is about a rich country catching a weaker one and signing a bilateral deal,” Hannan Mullah, a senior leader with SKM, said at the gathering in the Indian capital. “This deal is suicidal and will destroy Indian produce.”

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