Rahul – Rijiju Exchange Heated Words as LoP Termed India-US Trade Deal a “Wholesale Surrender”

Rohit Kumar

NEW DELHI, Feb 11: The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated exchange between Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi after the latter alleged that the government has “sold Bharat Mata” through the India-US interim trade deal and that it was a “wholesale surrender” with India’s energy security handed over to America and farmers’ interests compromised.

Participating in the debate on the annual budget, Mr Gandhi thundered that the government should be “shamed” of the India-US trade deal as by allowing US goods to enter, had endangered the livelihoods of crores of farmers, particularly those with small or marginal holdings, and those from allied industries. At the core of the critique was his claim US tariffs had jumped from the average three per cent pre-2025 – as part of baseline MFN, or most-favoured nation – rates to 18 per cent under this month’s deal. In-between they were as high as 50 per cent after Donald Trump complained of unfair tariffs and announced ‘reciprocal’ levies, and then added a 25 per cent ‘penalty’ on India for buying Russian oil.

Amid the LoP’s speech, Rijiju interrupted Rahul, saying the Congress leader was repeating his remarks. The union minister said the LoP’s remarks have “serious connotations,” and asked Rahul to further authenticate his allegations. “You are repeating one thing again and again. We have told you from the beginning…” the union minister said.

Rijiju further said, “Rahul Gandhi kept repeating it. We still said you can move on to the next subject, we are ready to hear you. But you repeated again. You took the Prime Minister’s name, and the word you used and the allegations you leveled – I want to request and demand you through the Chair, that whatever allegations you have made, despite the Chair’s objection, you have to authenticate it.”

The union parliamentary affairs minister said Rahul, as the Lok Sabha LoP, was not a normal Member of Parliament. “When you speak on certain things, there are serious connotations. I would urge the LoP, all the points he has made have serious repercussions. He must authenticate all allegations he has made,” he told Rahul.

Following this, the Congress leader said he would authenticate his statements immediately. Addressing the Chair, Rahul said, “I will authenticate right now. Let me authenticate, he has told me to authenticate. I will do so right now. I am authenticating.” However, Jagdambika Pal said that Rahul did not need to authenticate, stating that it was the union parliamentary affairs minister who has asked for it, not the Chair.

Mr Gandhi said had an INDIA Bloc government negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told US President Donald Trump that he should treat India as an equal. “You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, ‘Bharat Mata,’” he said while referring to the trade agreement. “For the first time in history our farmers are facing a storm (and) you have opened the door to crush our poor farmers.” “No Prime Minister has ever done this,” he said and insisted there is “no logic” in the deal.

“What have you done… in the beginning, three per cent was the average. Now it has gone to 18 per cent – ​​a 6x increase. US imports will go from US$46 billion to US$146 billion… this is absurd.” “They have no commitment to us… we have a commitment to them,” Gandhi said, referring to a provision that says India will buy US$500 billion in US energy and tech products. “We are standing like fools. Our tariff has gone up to 18 per cent… and theirs has come down from 16 per cent to zero.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju interrupted at this point and demanded Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, present facts to back his claims about the deal with the US. “India’s progress makes you unhappy. The Congress weakened the nation till 2014 (and is) now unhappy…” Rijiju said. He also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “the strongest ever.”

Rahul Gandhi’s renewed criticism of the trade deal came hours after the United States backtracked on a ‘factsheet’ it had released with details of the agreement. The revised document removed ‘pulses’ from a list of US products, including several agricultural and processed food items, for which India had agreed to either lower or reduce tariffs.

“India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine, and additional products,” it had read. The updated version simply removed the phrase ‘certain pulses.’

The politically sensitive agriculture sector accounts for about a fifth of India’s GDP. The country’s agricultural space is worth between US$580 billion and US$650 billion, consultancy giants McKinsey said in June, adding it could grow to US$1.4 trillion by 2035.

The changes came a day after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the government over the framework of the Interim Trade Agreement with the United States. Kharge claimed the trade pact undermined India’s strategic autonomy, farmers, cattle, and the textile sector. After the deal was announced, the government had assured Indian farmers of protection. The farm sector hasn’t been opened fully, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said, adding that sectors where India is self-sufficient had been kept outside the deal.

The LoP said the trade deal was a “surrender” of “1.5 billion Indians,” alleging that the BJP wanted to protect its “financial architecture.”

“It is a tragedy, because it is a surrender not just of the Prime Minister. He has surrendered the future of 1.5 billion Indians, and he has surrendered because he wants to protect the BJP’s financial architecture,” Rahul said, while alleging that India’s energy security had been handed over to the US. He further said that the interests of Indian farmers had been compromised.

“You yourself admit that we are facing a global storm — that the era of one superpower is over, that geopolitical conflicts are intensifying, and that energy and finance are being weaponised. Yet, despite acknowledging this reality, you have allowed the United States to weaponise energy and financial systems in ways that impact us,” the LoP said.

Rahul further questioned America’s caveat of India not buying oil from Russia, saying New Delhi’s energy security was “being dictated externally.” The LoP said no Prime Minister “would sign such a deal unless there was a chokehold on him.”