Mohali/New Delhi, March 21 -- The Punjab government's decision to dismantle the 13-month-long farm protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders on Wednesday night might have surprised many but the grounds for the surprising move were laid weeks ago, said people aware of developments on Thursday.

Behind the administration's choice to reverse its earlier unwavering support for the protesting farmers was a matrix of four interconnected factors - the waning support of the farm groups among large chunks of the population, especially those in urban areas, the turmoil in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after its Delhi polls loss, the Punjab administration's bid to undo the impression of a governance paralysis, and internal fractures within the farmer...