Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Attacking the NDA Government for forging India-US trade deal, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge alleged on Wednesday that the trade negotiations will hurt the interests of Indian farmers.
Participating in the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Upper House, the Congress President said that "is an insult to the Indian Parliament that parliamentarians got to know about the deal when it was in session from US President Donald Trump and not the government."
Quoting US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, he said, "The new US-India deal will export farm products to India's massive markets, lifting prices and pumping cash into rural America".
"Meaning American farmers will benefit," Kharge said.
Asserting that the deal will hurt the interests of Indian farmers, he alleged that the government wants to "destroy" the Indian agriculture sector.
In his speech, Kharge said the President's address was silent on many important matters and raised issues of social justice, social harmony, attack on constitutional democracy, economy, difficulties faced by farmers and workers and the government's shortcomings in its foreign policy.
After the Independence, two of the most important goals before the nation were setting up a system to provide social justice and equality, and giving the country a parliamentary democracy, but "in 11 years you have bulldozed both", he said.
In the last few years, the government has weakened the four pillars of the constitution -- justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, Kharge said.
He further said that in the last 11 years, the Modi government has weakened the fabric of social justice.
While the President's address mentioned women's reservation, in reality, women have only remained vote banks for the BJP, Kharge claimed, adding that if the Prime Minister was really concerned about women's reservation, then the Women's Reservation Act would have been implemented without any conditions.
Kharge also lashed out at the government for "uprooting and throwing away" legislations, including MNREGA, which were aimed to provide citizens basic rights and for the betterment of citizens.
Highlighting the issue of inequality, citing the World Inequality Report, Kharge said 40 per cent of India's total wealth is held by 1 percent of the population and asked what steps have been taken by the government to address the issue.