New Delhi, February 11 In a scathing attack, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the government of "selling Bharat Mata" through the India-US interim trade deal, claiming it was a "wholesale surrender" that compromised India's energy security and farmers' interests.
Participating in the debate on the Union Budget, Gandhi stated that he did not believe any Indian prime minister, including Narendra Modi, would agree to such a deal unless there was "pressure" on him.
"Why has he (Modi) sold India? Because they (the US) are putting pressure on him. They have a hold on his neck," Gandhi said, using an analogy from martial arts to explain the situation: after securing a grip, the next step is to apply pressure, and then the opponent gives up.
Gandhi highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had previously stated that the era of war was over. "In fact, we are moving into an era of conflict. There is conflict in Ukraine, there was conflict in Gaza, there is conflict in the Middle East, there is a threat of conflict in Iran, and we had Operation Sindoor," he said.
He emphasized the need to protect the country's people, data, food supply, and energy system.
Gandhi argued that if the INDIA bloc government had negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told President Donald Trump that India should be treated as an equal.
"The first thing we would say (to Trump) is that the most important asset in this equation is Indian data. If the US wants to protect its dollar, it must recognize that Indian data is the biggest asset. Second, we would tell President Trump that 'if you want access, then you will talk to us as an equal, not as servants'," Gandhi said.
He stated that the INDIA bloc government would have told Trump that India's energy security is non-negotiable and "we will protect our energy security."
"The third thing we would have told President Trump is that 'we understand you have a strong agricultural base, you need to protect farmers, but we will also protect our farmers'," Gandhi said.
"An INDIA bloc government would say that data is our biggest strength, and now let's talk. We would go there (for negotiations) as an equal. We will not be treated as Pakistan. If President Trump decides that the Pakistani army chief will have breakfast with him, we will have something to say about it," he said.
Gandhi claimed that India's energy security was compromised by the India-US interim trade deal, and that the US would decide "who we buy oil from."
"They will decide who we buy oil from; our PM will not decide. They will monitor, and if India buys oil (from where they don't want us to), they will punish us and impose tariffs of up to 50 per cent," Gandhi said.
In a scathing attack on the government, Gandhi stated that it talks about weaponizing energy and finance, and yet, it has allowed Americans to weaponize "our finance and our energy against us."
"How can you come to this House and defend this? Are you ashamed of what you are giving away?" Gandhi said, addressing the treasury benches.
"I am saying you have sold India. Are you ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother – Bharat Mata. Do you have no shame?" he said.
MPs from the treasury benches repeatedly rose to object and accused Gandhi of making "baseless" allegations and demanded that he provide evidence to support his claims, to which Gandhi responded that he was willing to comply.
Gandhi also referred to a case against a businessman in the US. Jagdambika Pal, who was chairing the session, asked Gandhi not to name those who are not members of the House.
"I do not believe any Indian PM, including Modi, would sign such a deal unless there is pressure on him," he said.
Gandhi claimed that through this deal, the interests of farmers have been compromised, textiles have been wiped out, and energy security has been "handed over" to the US.
"This is a wholesale surrender," he alleged.
"It is a tragedy because it is not just a surrender of the PM; he has surrendered the future of 1.5 billion Indians. He has surrendered because he wanted to protect the BJP's financial architecture on which there is a case in the US," Gandhi said.
"We are heading into turbulent times, and the nation has been sold out. Its data has been sold, its farmers have been sold, all our software engineers have been sold out. Small and medium businesses have been sold out, our forces and our energy security have been sold out," Gandhi alleged.
Criticising the Indo-US deal, Gandhi claimed that the Modi government has given up control over digital trade rules, removed data localisation, allowed free flow of data to the US, limited digital tax and waived source code disclosure, while offering 20-year tax holidays to big tech companies.
On tariffs, at the beginning, there was an average of 3 per cent, but it has now gone up to 18 per cent, he said.
US imports would go up from USD 46 billion to 146 billion, he said, adding that this is absurd.
While our tariff has gone up from 3 per cent to 18 per cent, theirs has come down from 16 to zero, he said.
"For the first time in Indian history, our farmers are facing a storm. You have opened the door to mechanised American farms spanning thousands of acres, effectively crushing our small farmers. It is disgraceful, and no Prime Minister before you has done this or after you will ever do this," Gandhi said.
