Amit Shah accuses Rahul of misleading on trade deals, says PM Modi safeguarded farmers

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, Union home minister Amit Shah says India’s trade pacts with US, EU and UK fully safeguard farmers, cattle rearers, fishermen and dairy industry

Published on: Feb 15, 2026, 18:07:20 IST

By Maulik Pathak

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Ahmedabad: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of spreading “lies” and “misinformation” over India’s trade negotiations with the United States (US), the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK), asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “safeguarded the interests” of farmers, dairy workers, cattle rearers and fishermen in the proposed agreements.

Amit Shah inaugurated India’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)-based Public Distribution System (PDS) at Mahatma Mandir in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar (ANI)

Shah, after inaugurating India’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)-based Public Distribution System (PDS) at Mahatma Mandir in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, said, “The Opposition is misleading the country regarding the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the European Union and the UK, and the trade deal with America.”

He alleged that the Opposition was portraying the pacts as harmful to farmers.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the central government over the India-US trade deal and the Union Budget 2026–27, telling US President Donald Trump that India must be treated “as an equal” in any trade negotiations and accusing the central government of compromising national interests, saying, “You have sold India” — remarks that triggered strong protests from treasury benches and a warning of a privilege notice against him.

Shah, who is also the minister of cooperation, said, “I feel like laughing when Congress’s Shahzada Rahul Gandhi stands in Parliament and talks about protecting farmers. The Congress has a long history of misleading the country, and now they are spreading lies about trade deals.”

Referring to the Congress’s criticism that the agreements would destroy India’s dairy sector, Shah said, “I want to assure the farmers, cattle rearers and fishermen of this country that in every trade deal signed with the European Union, England and America, Prime Minister Modi has safeguarded your interests completely. There is no need to worry.”

He further clarified on the dairy sector, responding to allegations that the deals would destroy it. “We are the people who expanded the dairy sector, not weakened it. In all the agreements, full protection has been given to dairy (sector),” Shah added.

He contrasted the Modi government’s record with the previous Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) administration. “Prime Minister Modi has always stood like a rock for the protection of farmers, whereas the previous government signed the Dunkel Proposal, making farmers insecure,” he said, highlighting that the trade agreements open global markets for Indian agricultural products and fisheries while maintaining “100% protection” for domestic interests.

He also challenged Gandhi to debate the issue on any public platform, adding that even the president of the BJP Yuva Morcha can come and debate on who has harmed farmers and who has worked for their welfare.

Highlighting the Modi government’s support for agriculture, Shah said that the agriculture budget rose from ₹26,000 crore under the previous government to ₹1.29 lakh crore under PM Modi. He said that loan waivers occurred only once in 70 years during the UPA period, while the current government has provided ₹6,000 annually directly to farmers’ accounts via PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) for 10 years, reducing reliance on loans.

Saturday’s event centred on the launch of India’s first CBDC-based Public Distribution System (PDS), a pilot initiative aimed at modernising and making food grain distribution transparent.

Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, Union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution Pralhad Joshi, and other officials attended the inauguration in Gandhinagar.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maulik Pathak
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.Read More

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