Will PM listen or 'grip' on him too strong: Rahul champions workers & farmers, slams US deal

"Today, lakhs of workers and farmers across the country are on the streets to raise their voices for their rights," he said.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi voiced out for the farmers and workers while alleging that the Modi government ignored them during decisions concerning their future. Taking to social media, he questioned whether PM Narendra Modi will listen to them now or if there is a "grip" on him too strong.

"Today, lakhs of workers and farmers across the country are on the streets to raise their voices for their rights...Farmers fear that the trade agreement (with the US) will harm their livelihoods. And weakening or eliminating MNREGA could take away the last source of support for villages," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

"Will Modiji listen now? Or is there a 'grip' on him that is too strong? I stand firmly with the issues and struggles of workers and farmers," he added.

Rahul's accused the government of 'selling' India and remarked that the India-US interim trade deal was a "wholesale surrender", with India's energy security handed over to America and farmers' interests compromised.

Check out his full Parliament speech

He expressed that the deal would have ended on a equal and better note for India had an INDIA bloc government negotiated the agreement with the US.

"The first thing we would say (to Trump) is that the most important asset in this equation is Indian data. If the US wants to protect the dollar, it must recognise that Indian data is the biggest asset. Second, we would say to President Trump that 'if you want access to it, you will talk to us as an equal, not as if we are your servants'," news agency PTI quoted Rahul Gandhi in its report.