India-U.S. trade deal will destroy Indian farmers: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (February 28, 2026) alleged that the India-U.S. interim trade deal will destroy Indian farmers.

Addressing the “Mazdoor Kissan Maha Rally” in Barnala, Punjab, Mr. Gandhi alleged that the deal had been stalled for four months due to disagreements over the opening of the agriculture sector.

“Question arises, the work which PM did not do for four months, why did he do it within 15 minutes?” he said, and asked why the trade deal was suddenly done.

Mr. Gandhi said that PM Modi gave a guarantee to U.S. President Donald Trump that every year India will buy U.S. products worth ₹9 lakh crore.

He said that the deal will “destroy Indian farmers”. During his address, Mr. Gandhi claimed he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha recently after the President’s address because he wanted to comment on former Army Chief Manoj Naravane’s memoirs.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he intended to refer to an unpublished book by Gen Naravane (retd), which, he claimed, described a lack of response from the political leadership during Chinese troop movements near the border.

Senior Congress leaders, including K.C. Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition in Punjab, Partap Singh Bajwa, former Chief Ministers Charanjit Singh Channi and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Randhawa, and another senior leader from the State Vijay Inder Singla were present.