Modi will bow to Trump: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM as trade deal deadline approaches
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Indo-US trade deal, after Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal claimed that India would not enter into an agreement under deadlines.
Goyal had on Friday claimed that India would accept the proposed trade deal with the US only when it is fully finalised, and in the national interest.
"Piyush Goyal can beat his chest all he wants, mark my words, Modi will meekly bow to the Trump tariff deadline," Gandhi said in a post on X.
The Congress has been attacking the prime minister for remaining silent and not countering US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of bringing a halt to hostilities between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.
The Free Trade Agreements are possible only when both sides benefit and involve a win-win agreement, Goyal told reporters when asked about the proposed interim trade agreement with the US.
"National interest should always be supreme. Keeping that in mind, if a deal is made, then India is always ready to deal with developed countries," he said.
Trump has set a deadline of July 9 to finalise the trade agreement with India.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
