Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of prioritising the protection of industrialist Gautam Adani over India’s national and farmers’ interests, citing recent US legal actions against the group for securities fraud and a $265 million bribery scheme.
Addressing a news conference, Kejriwal said that PM Modi is putting the country at stake to save Adani.
"Today the entire country wants to know why you (Modi) are bowing down before America? Today people are saying that to save Adani from being arrested in America, you are putting the country at stake. If this is true, then it is a very big betrayal of the country," said Kejriwal.
The former Delhi chief minister demanded that India should impose higher tariffs on US imports, asserting that the whole country will support this decision.
He further alleged that the BJP-led Central government has decided to waive off 11 per cent duty on cotton imported from the United States, which could impact the business of local farmers here.
The AAP chief said that PM Modi's decision could prove detrimental for India's farmers.
"Other countries did not bow down. They imposed higher tariffs. We should also impose higher tariffs. If the US is imposing 50 per cent tariffs, we should double the tariffs to 100 per cent. The whole country will support this decision. No country can afford to offend India. We are a nation of 140 crore people," he said.
The government on Thursday extended duty-free import of cotton by three more months till December 31 to support textile exporters facing steep 50 per cent tariffs in the US.
On August 18, the finance ministry had allowed duty exemption on cotton imports from August 19 till September 30.
"India used to impose 11 per cent duty on cotton imported from America. This meant that American cotton was more costly than homegrown cotton. But the Modi government has decided to waive off this duty from August 19 till September 30. This means that textile industries will get cheaper cotton. When our cotton will come in the market for sale in October, there will be few takers," Kejriwal said.
The farmers of Telangana, Punjab, Vidarbha and Gujarat will be highly impacted by this decision, said AAP leader.
"We all know that US President Donald Trump has imposed 50 per cent tariffs. We should have increased the 11 per cent duty to 50 per cent and not waived it off completely," the AAP chief added.
Kejriwal also announced that AAP will hold a meeting on September 7 in Chotila, Surendranagar district, Gujarat.
“I urge all the political parties and farmers' organisations to raise this issue. The farmers in Chotila are going to be heavily impacted by this decision of the Central government," the AAP chief said.
The former Delhi chief minister alleged a nexus between the BJP and the Congress, questioning why no "big leader" of the grand old party was arrested in the National Herald Case.
"We keep on getting offers for a compromise. Now, even people are seeing that the Congress has reached a compromise with the BJP. The National Herald case is an open and shut case. But no big leader of the Congress has gone to jail. Five of our big leaders were sent to jail in a fake case," he said.
Kejriwal told his party to never "compromise".
"The 2G case was shut down and coal scam case was shut down. Even people are talking about the nexus between the Congress and the BJP. We came into politics for the love of the country and not for compromise. We will keep fighting for the nation. You should never compromise for the sake of party, power, yourself or your family," he said.