Even Piyush Goyal doesn’t know what’s in deal: Khera slams India-US trade framework at Bhopal protest

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) 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.

Congress national spokesperson Abhay Dubey claimed that the BJP government had “lost its moral compass” and damaged farmers’ incomes through international trade deals.

MP State Congress President Jitu Patwari claimed that since clarity on the trade framework emerged, soybean and cotton prices had fallen by nearly 30 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.

Patwari said farmers in the state — one of the largest producers of soybean, cotton and maize — were already struggling due to unmet MSP promises and earlier policy decisions. “I challenge the state’s Chief Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture — they are lying to the people,” he said.

"Farmers are the backbone of this country. India, being an agriculture-based nation, connects the largest population to farming. The government failed farmers through the three farm laws, tried to implement the Land Acquisition Act, and did not fulfil its MSP promises. In Madhya Pradesh, soybean, cotton, and maize production is among the highest, yet not a single crop is sold at MSP. Since the trade deal clarity was announced, prices have fallen by 30 per cent, affecting our farmers...I challenge the state's Chief Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture is lying to the people," he claimed.

According to party leaders, more than one lakh farmers are expected to attend the Kisan Mahapanchayat at Atal Path in Bhopal.

--IANS

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