Shah defends US trade deal, slams Rahul for peddling lies on pact

Brushing aside Opposition charges over the US trade deal, Union Home Minister and BJP veteran Amit Shah said the interests of farmers and fishermen had been protected and not compromised, and described Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a habitual liar who repeatedly lies about the agreement.

“It is Rahul Gandhi’s policy to lie, lie aloud repeatedly. He has started a new tradition of telling lies every day. But the people have identified him as a lie-manufacturing factory,” Shah fumed while addressing a rally in Karaikal in the poll-bound Union Territory of Puducherry.

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Charging the previous Congress-led UPA government of Manmohan Singh with having ‘sold off farmers’ interests, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ensured 100 percent protection to Indian farmers and fishermen. “The FTA deal with the European Union and the Trade Agreement with the US should be studied carefully. But Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is misleading the people with lies,” he added.

Complimenting the Rangasamy government, of which the BJP is a constituent, for rooting out corruption, ensuring political stability, and strengthening economic growth, he credited the performance to the ‘double-engine sarkar’. The BJP veteran accused the previous Congress government of V Narayanasamy of being steeped in corruption and turning Puducherry into an ATM for the Gandhi family. He also alleged that the then Congress government had sold out MBBS and PG medical seats, including those meant for SCs and STs.

The BJP strategist, calling for the return of the AINRC-BJP alliance to power, said that in the 2021 assembly election, the NDA had secured 44 percent vote share, but this time it has set a target of harvesting 60 percent vote share and winning 24 out of the 30 seats in the territorial assembly.

Turning to national security, he said, unlike the Congress government in the past, which had failed to respond strongly to Pakistan-based terror attacks, Prime Minister Narendra had ordered decisive surgical strikes followed by Operation Sindoor. He also paid tributes to the martyred CRPF personnel of the Pulwama terror attack.