Will PM listen or 'grip' on him too strong: Rahul Gandhi slams US deal

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the government ignored the voices of workers and farmers while making decisions concerning their future and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will listen to them now or if there is a "grip" on him too strong.

Gandhi's attack on the government came a day after he alleged that the India-US interim trade deal was a "wholesale surrender", with India's energy security handed over to America and farmers' interests compromised.

In a post on X in Hindi, Gandhi said, "Today, lakhs of workers and farmers across the country are on the streets to raise their voices for their rights."  He said that the workers fear that the four labour codes will weaken their rights.

 

"Farmers fear that the trade agreement (with the US) will harm their livelihoods. And weakening or eliminating MNREGA could take away the last source of support for villages," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

"Will Modiji listen now? Or is there a 'grip' on him that is too strong? I stand firmly with the issues and struggles of workers and farmers," Gandhi said.

In a no-holds-barred attack on the Modi government, Gandhi, while participating in the debate on the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, claimed that Indian interests had been "surrendered" under the trade deal to protect the BJP's financial architecture.

Slamming the Indo-US deal, Gandhi drew an analogy of how in martial arts after securing a grip, the next step is a chokehold, and then the opponent taps to give up.

Gandhi underlined the need to protect the country's people, data, food supply and energy system.

He said that had an INDIA bloc government negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told President Donald Trump that he must treat India equally.