Bhopal

Opposition Congress legislators on Monday staged a protest inside the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, alleging that the proposed India–US trade deal poses a serious threat to farmers and could adversely affect agricultural markets and the rural economy.

On the sixth day of the ongoing Budget Session, Congress MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, gathered near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Assembly premises. Wearing masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former US President Donald Trump, they raised slogans opposing the trade agreement.

Singhar told reporters that the protest was aimed at safeguarding farmers’ interests and sending a strong message against any compromise affecting the agriculture sector.

“The India–US trade deal is a major threat to farmers. The entry of cheap foreign agricultural products such as soybeans, corn and cotton will directly hit our cultivators, mandi prices and the rural economy,” he said.

He alleged that the BJP-led government’s policies have been consistently anti-farmer and asserted that the Congress would continue its struggle from the streets to Parliament to protect cultivators’ rights.

The Congress leader demanded that the Centre ensure adequate safeguards for farmers before signing any international trade agreement and review provisions that could harm domestic agriculture.

India and the United States had earlier this month agreed on a framework to finalise an interim trade deal under which Washington proposed reducing tariffs to 18 per cent. However, the US Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the tariffs imposed globally by the Trump administration were illegal.

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Trump later announced a revised tariff hike, raising duties on imports from all countries to 15 per cent from the earlier proposed 10 per cent.