New Delhi | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi buckled under US pressure to finalise a trade deal and "sold off" 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allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha as he insisted on quoting from an article that cited former Army chief M M Naravane's unpublished "memoir", Gandhi also said that it is for the first time in history that the Leader of Opposition has not been allowed to speak on the president's address.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "PM Modi is Compromised. PM is too afraid to let me speak in Parliament about Naravane, Epstein Files and how he has surrendered on Tariffs." Hitting back at the Congress and Gandhi, BJP MP Anurag Thakur asked whether the Congress and others in the opposition are with India's interest.
He also slammed Gandhi over his allegation that Prime Minister Modi buckled under US pressure to finalise a trade deal.
Speaking to reporters, Gandhi said the issue is not Naravane's statement, "that is a side show", but the main thing is that "our prime minister has been compromised".
"I want to say three things. They are not allowing me to speak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rattled. And the trade deal that had been stuck for the last four months, for some reason which Prime Minister Modi and I know, was sealed last evening," he said.
Gandhi also claimed that Modi is under "enormous pressure", and his "image balloon" that had been inflated with thousands of crores could burst.
"The issue is not Naravane's statement, that is a side show, he (Modi) and I both know it. The main thing is that our prime minister has been compromised. Who has done it and how it has been done, the people of India have to think about it," Gandhi said.
The Leader of Opposition also said the farmers of India must understand that their hard work, as well as their blood and sweat, has been "sold off" by Prime Minister Modi through this deal.
"He has sold it because he is compromised. He has not just sold you off, but the whole country. That is why they are not allowing me to speak," Gandhi said, claiming that the prime minister is "scared".
Asked what kind of pressure he was referring to, Gandhi said there is a case against industrialist Gautam Adani in the US and a lot more is to come in the Epstein files matter.
"There is a case on Adani in the USA. That is not targeting Adani but Modi's financial structure. The Epstein files have more matter," Gandhi said.
The Epstein files refer to thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, including travel logs, recordings, and emails, which have been a topic of conversation since Epstein died in custody in 2019.
Gandhi also called the pressure of the Epstein files and the case against Adani the two "pressure points" for the government.
India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will bring down reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent from current 25 per cent, US President Donald Trump said on Monday after a phone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The prime minister said he was delighted that "Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent".
"Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement," Modi said.
