Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has buckled under US pressure to finalise a trade deal and has "sold out" the hard work of Indian farmers through the agreement.
Addressing reporters in the Parliament House complex after he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha as he insisted on quoting from an article that cited former Army chief MM Naravane's unpublished "memoir", Gandhi said it is for the first time in history that the Leader of Opposition has not been allowed to speak on the president's address.
"We need to understand why a trade deal stuck for about four months was suddenly finalised last evening," Gandhi said adding that "there was huge pressure on Prime Minister Modi".
Asked what kind of pressure he was referring to, Gandhi alleged there is a case against industrialist Gautam Adani in the US and a lot more is to come in the Epstein files. He alleged that Prime Minister Modi "has been compromised" and that Indian farmers must understand their hard work "as well as their blood and sweat" has been "sold out" through the India-US trade deal.
He also said the entire country had been "sold out". There was no immediate reaction from the BJP or the government. PTI "The main thing is that our PM is compromised. The public needs to think about this. For the first time, the LoP was not allowed to speak on the President's speech. Narendra Modi ji has sold your hard work in this trade deal because he is compromised. He has sold the country. Narendra Modi ji is scared because those who shaped his image are now breaking this image.
"There is a case on Adani ji in the US, it is actually a case on Modi ji....The Epstein Files contain even more that the US has not yet released. There is pressure due to that as well. These are the two pressure points. The country should understand this."
In Parliament today, Rahul Gandhi said: A very important matter in the President's speech is a matter relating to national security. Our relationship between the Pakistanis, the Chinese, and us. There is a very important point in this article that I have authenticated. It speaks about the PM's reaction...Our President's address was about the path India has to take. Today. On the world stage, the main issue in international affairs is the conflict between China and the US. This is central to our President's address. All I am saying is let me make a statement about what happened between China and India and how our PM reacted to it. Why am I being stopped? BJP MPs object to Rahul Gandhi speaking on this issue."