New Delhi, Feb 24: Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over the interim India-US trade framework, alleging that the agreement severely harms Indian farmers by opening the door to cheaper agricultural imports from America.
He claimed that even Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, does not know what is in the deal. Khera is in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh to participate in a protest against the India-US trade deal. Speaking to IANS he questioned the transparency of the deal and accused the government of sidelining farmers’ interests. “Ask them — did they read the deal? Even Piyush Goyal doesn’t know what’s in the deal. Whatever comes from the US, everyone immediately agrees. The Agriculture Minister should feel especially ashamed, because if anyone has broken the backbone of farmers in his own state, it is Shivraj Singh Chouhan,” Khera told IANS. The protest in Bhopal is part of the Congress party’s broader agitation against the trade framework. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to lead a major farmers’ convention, or ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’, in the state capital. Speaking on the party’s ‘Kisan Maha Chaupal’ campaign, Khera announced that the next Mahachaupal would be held in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. “Maharashtra is very important, with significant cotton cultivation. There is also extensive soybean farming, and the deal Centre made has caused the greatest harm to the soybean farmers there,” he said.