India-US trade deal: Congress to protest from Feb 24, hold Kisan Sammelans

The Congress on Friday (February 20) announced that it would launch protests in various states against the India-US trade deal. The party said the deal will harm the farmers of the country.

The party will organise Kisan Sammelans (farmers’ conventions) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on February 24 and on March 7 in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. Another Sammelan will be held in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, on March 9.

Kharge, Rahul to attend

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will be present at these Kisan Sammelans.

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The party is also speaking to farmer organisations and plans to unitedly organise Sammelans and protests in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh to begin with and then expand the stir to other states too, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said after a meeting at Kharge’s residence earlier on Friday to chart out the protest plan.

Rahul, along with Congress state chiefs and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leaders of six states – Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir were present at the meeting.

‘Modi has surrendered’

“The meeting discussed the India-US trade deal, in which Narendra Modi has surrendered. This trade deal will adversely affect cotton, soybean, maize farmers and fruit and nut producers in these six states,” Ramesh said.

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“Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi ji strongly emphasised that this is Prime Minister Modi's surrender. The first surrender happened on 10 May 2025, when a sudden ceasefire was declared during Operation Sindoor.

“This trade deal will have a negative impact on the farmers of the country. Therefore, in the first phase, we will raise our voice against the trade deal together with farmers' organisations in these six states,” he added.