NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday doubled down on his attack at the central government over the India-US trade deal, saying the pact with America “betrays our food security and farmers” and that PM Modi has opened the Indian agriculture market as US President Donald Trump “has him by the throat.”Reacting to the ruling BJP‘s privilege motion against him in the Lower House, the Rae Bareli MP said he spoke truth in Parliament and that he would be unfazed by the repercussions of it and reiterated his “PM Modi has sold the nation” remark.“Narendra Modi ji has sold the country, sold the farmers. File a case against me, abuse, do whatever you want to do, privilege motion if you want to file, file it, it doesn’t matter, I have spoken the truth in Parliament, if you don’t like the truth, that’s another matter, the country understands the truth, do whatever you want to do, I stand with farmers; Congress president Kharge ji and the entire Congress party, all our workers stand with farmers, we will not let this injustice happen,” Rahul Gandhi said in a video he posted on X.Earlier in the day, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said he had moved a substantive motion in the Lok Sabha against Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of misleading the country with the help of “anti-India forces.”The Congress scion said the Modi government’s decision to import American “corn, soybeans, and fruits” is just a beginning and that the Centre would “open the doors of the entire agriculture market for his friends, for people like Adani and Ambani, and for foreign powers.”“For years, foreign people have been trying to capture Hindustan’s agriculture market. Narendra Modi ji has opened the door for them; this is the truth. He also knows, I also know why he opened it…because Donald Trump has him by the throat. Corn, soybean and fruits — this is the beginning…Narendra Modi will open the doors of the entire agriculture market for his friends, for people like Adani and Ambani, and for foreign powers,” the ex-Congress president claimed.Labelling PM Modi “anti-farmer” and mentioning the repealed three farm laws, Rahul Gandhi compared the status of Indian farmers with those in America to highlight the dire contrast.“Earlier also he brought black laws, now he has opened the door for foreign powers. American farmers have large farms, thousands of acres of farms, fully mechanized and the government gives them subsidy. You know that our farmers have small farms, don’t get proper MSP and mechanization is just in name,” he said.His statement comes a day after his Lok Sabha speech in which he accused the Centre of “compromising national interests”.In his address, the Congress leader said the government had acknowledged a global shift marked by the end of a single superpower era, rising geopolitical conflicts, and the weaponisation of energy and finance. Despite this, he alleged, the government had allowed the United States to weaponise energy and financial systems in ways that affect India.He further alleged the deal has compromised security in all three critical things needed to run a modern country — data, food supply, and energy.
