In a no-holds-barred attack, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the government has “sold Bharat Mata” through the India-US interim trade deal, and that it was a “wholesale surrender” with India’s energy security handed over to America and farmers’ interests compromised.
Participating in the debate on the Union Budget, Gandhi said he does not believe that any Indian prime minister, including Narendra Modi, would agree to such a deal unless there is a “chokehold” on him. “Why has he [Modi] sold India — because they [the US] are choking him. They have a grip on his neck,” said Gandhi.
“We are moving into a dangerous world. We have to understand our strengths, and the central strength of our country is our people,” he pointed out. He underlined the need to protect the country’s people, data, food supply, and energy system.
Gandhi said that had an INDIA bloc government negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told President Donald Trump that he should treat India as an equal. The LoP claimed that India’s energy security was gone under the India-US interim trade deal, and the US will decide “who we buy oil from.” He added an INDIA bloc government would have told Trump that India`s energy security is non-negotiable and “we are going to protect our energy security”.
‘Full of lies’
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha was “full of lies” and the ruling alliance will seek to expunge from the House records. Soon after Gandhi’s speech during a debate on the Union Budget, Rijiju said the ruling alliance members will serve a notice before the chair seeking authentication of whatever the leader of opposition has spoken. “We will demand expunging of whatever lies Rahul Gandhi has spoken,” he said.
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