Rajya Sabha: Opposition Walks Out Over Indo-US Trade Deal

New Delhi: Members of several opposition parties on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha while raising the issue of the Indo-US trade deal and demanding a discussion on it while the Telugu Desam urged the government to press the US for formal withdrawal of punitive duty

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Jairam Ramesh (Congress) alleged that information about the deal was being received from Washington.

As Opposition members started protesting, Leader of the House J.P. Nadda said that the US President announcd the reduction in tariffs on Indian goods through a post on social media and spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nadda alleged that the Opposition's frustration was coming out, and it had started seeing bad in good things.

"I want to assure the house that the government is ready to discuss the Indo-US trade deal and provide all minute details of the deal. The government will come out with a suo motu statement on the trade deal… but this methodology is fatal for democracy and is the irresponsible behaviour of the Indian National Congress and the I.N.D.I. alliance," Nadda said.

"You are an issueless party now. You have got no issues. This is very irresponsible behaviour, and in a way this is anti-national behaviour. It is anti-national," he said, adding that their frustration is being seen at every turn. All opposition members, except the TMC, later staged a walkout in protest.

The Opposition members continued raising slogans alleging that the interests of the country were being bartered. Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan said that when the government was making a statement, the Oppostion members should listen.

Earlier, the TD’s Beeda Masthan Rao Yadav urged the government to continue its intense dialogue with the US administration for the formal withdrawal of the punitive duty and issuance of an official notification.

Recalling the recent history of US tariffs, he said: " I would like to place on record my appreciation of the determined efforts of the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Modi ji and the NDA government and the commerce ministry, whose proactive diplomatic engagement with the United States has yielded tangible results."

He added that while President Trump's statement referred to reciprocal tariff, it did not explicitly confirm the withdrawal of the 25 per cent punitive duty.

When the Upper House resumed in the afternoon, the Opposition launched a scathing attack on the Modi government for announcing the Indo-US trade deal on social media platform X instead of Parliament which was in session. They alleged that New Delhi had succumbed to US' economic expansionism while failing to protect the interests of farmers.

Participating in the motion of thanks on the President's address, Rajani Ashokrao Patil (Congress) stated, "It is being said that India will open its agriculture sector to the US. If you (government) do not protect farmers, if you open their agricultural market... Trump has said that USD 500 billion worth of purchases are going to take place... It is essential for Parliament and the nation to know on which aspects the Prime Minister held discussions with Trump".

Referring to the claim that India would no longer buy Russian oil and instead purchase it from the US and Venezuela, she sought to know whether India will desert its long-term ally (in an apparent reference to Russia) and urged the government to clarify on all these issues in Parliament.

TMC’s Ritabrata Banerjee alleged that "the Union government has succumbed to economic expansionism of the USA accepting all terms dictated upon by Trump on purchases of oil from US and Venezuela instead of Russia".

CPI(M)’s John Brittas questioned the government for announcing the deal on a social media platform rather than Parliament. Brittas also raised concerns about the deal's potential impact on India's farm sector and accused the government of compromising the country's sovereignty.

"Is this House more important than Elon Musk's X platform? That's the question," Brittas said. He questioned the timing of the announcement, suggesting that the Prime Minister had to be "alert and awake at 11 pm at night to respond to his (US President) teasers," while Cabinet ministers relied on X to "shower compliments to Donald Trump."

"The healthy convention of this country is that any policy decision during Parliament session, any important decision, should be announced on the floor of the House, rather than on X platform. So, where is this country going," he asked.