Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday made serious allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “compromising” and “selling the country” through the India-US trade deal.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said, “Modi ji is nervous. The (US-India) trade deal, which was stalled for the last few months, was signed by Narendra Modi last night. There is immense pressure on him. Narendra Modi ji’s image may get tarnished. The main thing is that the image of our Prime Minister is getting tarnished. The public should think about this. For the first time, the leader of the opposition was not allowed to speak on the President’s speech.”
He further said, “Narendra Modi ji has sold your hard work in this trade deal because he has compromised. He has sold the country. Narendra Modi ji is scared because the same people who had created his image are now spoiling this image.”
When Rahul Gandhi was asked why the opposition thinks PM Modi has been compromised, he cited the alleged case against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani in the US and the Epstein files.
He said, “There is a case going on in America against Adani ji, actually this case is against Modi ji. There is much more information in the Epstein files than this which America has not released yet. Due to this also there is pressure. These are the two main pressure points. The country should understand this.”
This comes after the trade agreement between India and the US, under which the tariff on Indian exports has been reduced from 25 percent to 18 percent.
However, the Congress has sought full details of the India-US trade agreement and raised questions on several key aspects, such as claims of opening up the agriculture sector, demand to reduce tariffs to “zero” and a freeze on purchases of Russian oil as claimed by US President Donald Trump.
Rahul Gandhi’s reaction came when he again referred to former Army chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished memoir related to border tensions with China and said he found the magazine article authentic.
This led to a heated debate between the MPs of the India Alliance and the ruling party, after which Speaker Krishna Prasad Teneti adjourned the House till 3 pm.