New Delhi, Feb 12 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserted that the government can file cases or a privilege motion against him, but he will stand firmly with farmers, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being "anti-farmer" and "selling" the country through the India-US interim trade deal.
Gandhi also alleged that there is a "chokehold" on Modi, and that US President Donald Trump's "reins" are in Modi's hands.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha shared a video statement on X in which he made a scathing attack on the government over the India-US interim trade deal.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "Whether an FIR is filed, a case is registered, or a privilege motion is brought, I will stand with the farmers."
"Any trade deal that takes away the farmers' livelihood or weakens the country's food security is anti-farmer. We will not allow the anti-farmer Modi government to compromise on the interests of food producers," he said.
In his video, Gandhi said that farmers are the foundation of the country.
"Narendra Modi has betrayed our food security and our farmers. By striking a deal with the US, he has sold cotton, soybean, apple, and fruit farmers. For years, foreign powers have been trying to capture our agricultural market," Gandhi said, adding that Modi has opened the door for them.
"This is the truth, and he (Modi) is also aware of it. He has done this because there is a chokehold on his neck. Narendra Modi's reins are in the hands of Donald Trump," he alleged.
"Farmers growing maize, cotton, soybean, and fruits are just the beginning. Narendra Modi will open the doors to the entire agricultural market for his friends like Adani and Ambani, and for foreign powers. The whole country and the farmers know that Narendra Modi is anti-farmer," he claimed.
Gandhi said that Modi had previously introduced the "black farm laws," and now he has opened the doors of the agricultural market to foreign powers.
"American farmers have large farms, they are mechanized, and the government provides them with subsidies. On the other hand, our farmers have small farms, they don't get MSP, and there is no mechanization," the former Congress chief said in the video.
"Narendra Modi has sold the country and its farmers. You can file cases against me, abuse me, do whatever you want, file a privilege motion – it doesn't matter to me. I have spoken the truth in Parliament, and you may not like it, but the country knows the truth. You can do whatever you want; I am standing with the farmers. I will not back down even an inch," Gandhi asserted.
"Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, me, and the entire Congress are standing with the farmers; we will not allow this injustice to happen," he said.
Posting the video on his WhatsApp channel, Gandhi alleged that "anti-farmer" Narendra Modi has sold the country's food producers, their blood and sweat, to Trump.
"Why is he always ready to sacrifice farmers? First, he introduced black laws to benefit his billionaire friends – now, to free himself from the American stranglehold on his own, he has opened the doors of Indian agriculture to Trump's America," he said.
"Tomorrow, these doors will be even wider – for those same billionaire friends, for other foreign powers," he alleged.
This new India-US trade deal calls for removing "non-tariff barriers" on American agricultural products, he pointed out.
"Opening the Indian market to foreign agricultural products is a direct attack on India's food security and the livelihoods of farmers," he asserted.
Farmers of cotton, soybeans, sorghum, fruits, and dried fruits are already at risk, he said.
"99.5% of India's farmers are small and poor – there is neither adequate support nor subsidies; the farmer bears the entire risk. In the United States, farming is done on a large scale, using machines, and the government provides heavy subsidies," he said.
If Indian farmers are forced to compete with cheap, subsidized American agriculture, they will not be able to survive, Gandhi argued.
"This means that American farmers will benefit, while Indian farmers will suffer ruin. In this agreement, farmers were not consulted. Parliament was not given complete information. The country was not told what had actually been decided," he said.
"For years, it was said, 'We will double farmers' income.' Not only did income not double, but now the farmers' very future has been put at stake. I and the Congress Party stand with the nation's food providers with all our strength," he said.
"We will fight from the streets to Parliament, in every village, on every platform – to protect India's farmers and the nation's food security," 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 had underlined the need to protect the country's people, data, food supply, and energy system.
