• Source:JND

Lok Sabha Updates: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday went all guns blazing against the Centre over the recently announced interim trade agreement between India and the US, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "selling the country" and terming the trade deal as "one sided agreement which has hurt the interest of the farmers."

Allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha after a week, the LoP alleged that the interest of the farmers of the country has been compromised under the trade deal, saying that the agricultural products from the US will flood the Indian markets now.

"You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata. For the first time in history, our farmers are facing a storm. You've opened the door to crush poor farmers. No PM has ever done this," Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha.

Rahul Gandhi further highlighted the tariff issue and said that the trade deal is a win-win situation only for the US, as their imports will go up from USD 46 billion to USD 146 billion.

ALSO READ: India To Halt Russian Oil Imports? Piyush Goyal Passes The Buck To MEA, Answer Still Awaited | Watch

He further said that tariffs on Indian goods have been hiked from 3 per cent to 18 per cent, whereas the 16 per cent tariff levied by India on American products has been reduced to zero.

"Secondly, what have you done on tariffs? Earlier, the average tariff stood at around 3 per cent. It has now risen to 18 per cent -- a six-fold increase. At the same time, US imports into India are projected to rise from 46 billion dollars to 146 billion dollars. This is absurd. Absolutely absurd. There is no firm commitment from the United States towards us, yet we are committing to increase imports by nearly 100 billion dollars annually," the Raebareli MP said.

"We are making concessions, but receiving nothing concrete in return. It appears as though we are standing there like fools. Our tariffs have increased from 3 per cent to 18 per cent, while theirs have reportedly fallen from 16 per cent to zero," he added.

Launching an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said that the PM would not have sold the country under normal circumstances and alleged that he did the trade deal under "external pressure". He alleged that there was visible fear in the Prime Minister's eyes and referred to "Epstein files" being locked up.

ALSO READ: Deliberate Signal Or Mistake? US Deletes Bold Map Showing PoK And Aksai Chin As Indian Territory

"The interesting thing is that I know that the Prime Minister would not sell India under normal circumstances. You know why he sold India? Because they are choking him. They have got a grip on his neck. We can see fear in the eyes of the Prime Minister. There are two things- first, Epstein. 3 million files are still locked up," said Rahul Gandhi.

Raking up the Epstein files issue further, Rahul Gandhi questioned why industrialist Anil Ambani was not in jail, alleging in Parliament that his name appeared in the Epstein-related files. Rahul Gandhi also referred to Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, claiming that Puri knew who introduced Anil Ambani to Epstein.

ALSO READ: 'Tall Swedish Blonde': Epstein Files Reveal Disturbing 2017 Chats Between Jeffrey Epstein And Anil Ambani

"There is a businessman Anil Ambani, I want to ask why is he not in jail? The reason is that his name is in the Epstein Files. I would also like to ask Hardeep Puri, who introduced him to Epstein. I know who introduced him, and Hardeep Puri knows who introduced him," he said.


Also In News