Overview
- Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will meet leaders from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir on February 20 to plan a coordinated response.
- Congress says these locations were chosen for their crop profiles, arguing local producers could be hit by tariff cuts on U.S. goods.
- A large rally in Punjab is planned for late February or early March, with Rahul Gandhi expected to attend, according to Bhupesh Baghel.
- Party leaders allege the pact would enable duty‑free entry for U.S. agricultural products such as maize, red sorghum, soybean oil, cotton, processed foods, and tree nuts, depressing domestic prices.
- The government has rejected the criticism, with Amit Shah accusing Rahul Gandhi of misleading people and Piyush Goyal calling the claims a fabricated narrative.