The atmosphere in the Lok Sabha turned heated as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi delivered a fiery speech, firing salvos at the government over the recently announced trade deal with the United States.
Attacking the government, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “sold Bharat Mata” to the US and termed the interim trade deal with Washington one-sided.
Speaking on the Union Budget, he said, “You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata,” referring to the trade agreement.
“The interesting thing is that I know the Prime Minister would not sell India under normal circumstances. He would not do it. 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. Three million files are still locked up.”
Upping his attack, the Congress leader alleged that farmers’ interests had been compromised, as agricultural products from the US would flood Indian markets.
Criticising the government’s move to announce a 20-year tax holiday for foreign firms, he said, “You’ve done a trade deal… The thing that is going to transform India in the 21st century, the thing that is going to make us a superpower, is what the Modi government has done with our data. We give up control over our digital trade rules. Number two, there is no need for data localisation. Number three, free data flow to the United States. Number four, a limit on digital tax. Number five, no need to disclose any source code… A 20-year tax holiday for anybody who wants it, for big tech companies. This is what you’ve done on data.”
Speaking on India-US trade deal, he said, “3 per cent was average tariffs, now it is 18 per cent, 6x increase; US imports to go up from $46 billion to $146 billion, this is absurd and they have no commitment to us.”
