NEW DELHI: BJP on Wednesday fully matched Rahul Gandhi’s aggression on the floor of Lok Sabha, terming his allegation about govt selling out the national interest in the trade agreement with the US a blatant lie, painting him as a leader filled with bitterness and hatred who would go to any extent to harm the country in his attempt to target the ruling alliance. Hitting out at Rahul, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it was Congress govt which surrendered India’s interest before international organisations, including WTO, and “sold” the interest of the poor and farmers. She said the UPA govt had compromised the interest of farmers at Bali on agriculture, and had agreed to the trade facilitation deal, without securing India’s interests. She also referred to the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Statement and accused the Manmohan Singh govt of diluting India’s position on sovereignty and security in its engagement with Pakistan. Reacting angrily to Rahul’s “sellout” charge against PM Narendra Modi, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said no “mai ka laal’ has the audacity to do so and lauded Modi as India’s strongest PM. Rijiju, who stood up to challenge Rahul’s charges against govt and dared him to authenticate his claims, also said that a privilege motion may be brought against the Congress leader for making false allegations. “You are levelling serious charges without any proof. You are making wild allegations. Please make substantive points,” he said. BJP, in any case, would not have let Rahul’s claims go unchallenged. But on Tuesday, it was enthused by a “fact-sheet” issued by the Trump administration which showed that India got better terms than what the bilateral statement suggested. Information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnav took on Rahul for claiming the deal had compromised the ownership of data, saying it was protected under a strong legal regime. Former Anurag Thakur said in Lok Sabha that successive electoral losses had filled Gandhi with hatred. “He hates parliamentary rules, he hates the Speaker, he hates constitutional institutions, he hates the PM and now he has started hating India.” Thakur alleged that it is Rahul, who accused govt of caving in to the US pressure, who is guided by “visible and invisible” foreign players working against India. Rahul raised the issue of “vote chori (vote theft)” whereas the reality is that the people have stopped voting for thieves, he said. BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni offered pointed rebuttal to Rahul’s allegations, accusing him of misquoting and misinterpreting documents, including the budget and agreement with the US, to mislead Parliament and the country. “Rahul has once again chosen theatrics over truth. Deliberately misrepresenting the budget weakens democratic debate and disrespects the intelligence of the people of India,” he said on X.
