Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the timing of the Indo-US interim trade deal.Addressing the Mazdoor Kissan Maha Rally in Barnala, Punjab, Rahul said the deal had been stalled for four months due to disagreements over opening the agriculture sector.“So the question arises, the work which PM did not do for four months, why did he do it within 15 minutes?” he asked. “What was the pressure that the prime minister of India signed a death warrant for our country there. He signed a death warrant for our farmers. He gave away our data. He signed a death warrant for our small and medium industries,” he alleged.Rahul further said that the prime minister gave a guarantee to US president Donald Trump that India would buy US products worth Rs 9 lakh crore every year. He said opening the agricultural sector would allow American goods to enter the Indian market and harm farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.“Narendra Modi has opened the door of the agricultural sector. American goods will flow in, and our farmers will be ruined,” he said. “No prime minister of India, whether from the Congress Party, the BJP, or any other party, can open the agricultural sector. No prime minister can.”Rahul further claimed he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha after the president’s address because he wanted to refer to an unpublished book by former army chief general Manoj Naravane (retd). He alleged that the memoir described a lack of response from the political leadership during Chinese troop movements near the border.“Only the prime minister of the country can give the order to fire upon the Chinese army. Neither the army chief nor the defence minister can give it. Naravane ji asked the prime minister whether we can fire and stop them. There was no response for 2 hours. After that, Naravane ji gets the order to do whatever he deems appropriate,” he said.
