Rahul Gandhi meets farmer leaders to discuss US trade deal, BJP calls it staged

BJP leaders came all guns blazing at Rahul Gandhi after he met farmer leaders on Friday in Parliament House complex amid debate over the India-US trade deal, which the Opposition says fails to safeguard the interests of the farmers. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha posted a video of his meeting on X and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Narendra 'surrender' Modi", writing that the latter betrayed the country's farmers. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal clapped back, calling the meeting staged to push the "most artificial and fake narrative". BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also countered, challenging the Congress leader to a debate.

During the meeting with Rahul Gandhi, farm union leaders expressed their opposition to the trade agreement, in which reciprocal tariffs on India by US President Donald Trump had been slashed from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. They conveyed their concerns about the livelihoods of farmers of soyabean, fruits and nuts, cotton and corn, the Congress said.

"Narendra 'surrender' Modi has betrayed India’s farmers — and the farmers have realized this. This isn’t just a trade deal; it’s a direct assault on the livelihoods of our food providers," RahuL Gandhi tweeted.

All India Kisan Congress chief Sukhpal S Khaira, Ashok Balhara of the Bharatiye Kisan Mazdor Union, Haryana, Baldev S Zira of the BKU Krantikari, and R NandKumar of the Progressive Farmers Front, were among the farm union leaders who met the former Congress president.

"In today's meeting in Parliament with the delegation from farmers' unions, their concerns were clearly evident. Farmers struggling with inflation, rising costs, and uncertainty over MSP are now being left unprepared to face foreign crops backed by massive subsidies and mechanical might. This isn't a fair fight; it's one-sided pressure. The government’s hollow assurances won’t work anymore. The future of farmers cannot be bartered away without their consent. Come what may, I and the Congress Party stand with India's food providers for their rights, security, and dignity," he tweeted.

Goyal, however, claimed that Congress activists pretending to be disguised as farm union leaders participated in the meeting that was "stage-managed". "You can see them taking the microphone around, recording the interaction, probably based on a pre-determined script because every claim they have made is false," the Commerce Minister said in a video he tweeted in response to Rahul Gandhi's remarks.

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