Alleging that the the India-US interim trade agreement is one-sided and hurts the interests of the farmers, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the government of selling 'Bharat Mata'.
Participating in the debate on the Union Budget in Lok Sabha, the Congress leader charged: "You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata," while referring to the trade agreement.
He said, "I know that the prime minister would not sell India under normal circumstances. 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."
Gandhi said the interests of the farmers have been compromised as agricultural products from the US will flood Indian markets.
Further, he alleged that the the Indian textile industry is "finished."
"If the INDIA alliance were negotiating with President Trump, I will tell you what we would say. The first thing we would say is that President Trump, the most important thing in this equation, is Indian data. You want to protect your dollar? We are your friends. We appreciate you. We want to help you protect your dollar. But please remember that if you want to protect your dollar, the biggest asset that can protect your dollar is lying with the Indian people," the Congress leader said.
He said the alliance would have also told Trump that if the US wants to access this data, the US need to engage with India as equals.
The Congress leader was further quoted as saying, "You're not going to talk to us as if we are your servants. Second thing we would say is Mr Trump, please understand that our energy security is our energy security. No matter what happens, we are going to protect our energy security. The third thing we would say is, President Trump, we understand that you have a voter base, an agricultural voter base. We understand that you need to protect your farmers, but we will also protect our farmers..."
He alleged that India's energy security has been handed over to the US under the trade deal and called it "wholesale surrender."