Modi Should Scrap Indo-US Deal Approved Under Pressure: Rahul Gandhi
'Anti-Farmer' agreement as an arrow in the heart of farmers, says Rahul Gandhi
Bhopal: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the Indo- US trade deal was struck without the knowledge of the Union cabinet and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scrap it in the wake of the USA supreme court rejecting the tariffs.
Addressing the ‘Kisan Mahachaupal’ farmers’ rally here, Mr. Gandhi said that Mr. Modi did not take his senior cabinet colleagues such as Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan into confidence before clearing the India-US trade deal.
“The decision to strike the deal was taken in complete secrecy”, he claimed.
The Congress leader said that the deal compromised the interests of farmers, and farm workers.
This is not a deal but an arrow pierced in the hearts of the farmers of the country, he said.
“The Indo-US trade deal is against the interests of our farmers and was done under the pressure of U.S President Donald Trump because of Epstein files and to save Industrialist Adani”, Mr. Gandhi alleged.
He said that the deal was done entirely on Washington’s terms and challenged the Centre to show some spine to dump it.
He dared Mr. Modi to withdraw the deal in the wake of U.S supreme court ruling on the trade tariffs and added that Mr. Modi would not be able to do so.
Mr. Gandhi also accused Mr. Modi of compromising the interests of India’s agriculture, data, textile and import sectors.
He said that the trade agreement was stalled for five months because it involved agriculture and agricultural products. Indian farmers, farm workers and even the government were against such a deal.
But Mr. Modi called Mr. Trump after leaving parliament in the evening and said that he was ready to strike the deal, Mr. Gandhi said.
Referring to Epstein files, he claimed that Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri is mentioned in it and names of more ministers in the Union government will surface.
He also referred to the ongoing controversy regarding former Army chief Gen M.M. Naravane’s memoir, saying that the decision to go to war was political, not a military one.
Mr. Gandhi said he was not allowed to speak in the parliament because he wanted to highlight the issue.
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge who also spoke on the occasion called Mr. Modi a ‘coward’ and accused him of selling India’s interest in the Indo-US trade deal.