New Delhi: Amid ruckus over the Trump administration doubling the tariff imposition on goods from India to 50 per cent, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Thursday appealed the "140 crore Indians" to extend their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and send a strong message of unity.
"Trump is imposing tariffs on 140 crore Indians. We need to stand behind our Prime Minister so that India remains strong and a message goes out to the world that India stands united, be it Operation Sindoor or be it US tariffs on India," Dubey told ANI.
Targeting the Congress and its allies for promoting "crony capitalism," the BJP leader claimed that top leadership in the opposition party, including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, have used aeroplanes of Adani, Ambani and Essar nearly 250 times from 1995 to 2024.
"From 1995-2024, the Congress party and its allies, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi, used Adani, Ambani, GMR, and Essar aeroplanes nearly 250 times. They have a personal relationship with the son of the owner of ArcelorMittal. He often has lunch and dinner with him in Delhi restaurants. What kind of crony capitalism do you talk about?" Dubey asked.
Responding to Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi's "Modi's hands are tied," Dubey said that the Prime Minister has "no backlog" and questioned the relationship of Congress with the corporates like Adani, Ambani, Tata and Birla.
"Our Prime Minister is strong and has no backlog. You need to answer what you've taken from Adani and Ambani, and what were you taking from Tata and Birla before this. Why did you use GMR and Essar aeroplanes? Our Prime Minister hasn't taken anything from anyone," he added.
Dubey's remarks follow Rahul Gandhi's post on Wednesday, where the Congress leader claimed that the US investigation into Adani is the reason Prime Minister Modi cannot stand up to Donald Trump.
"India, please understand: The reason PM Modi cannot stand up to President Trump despite his repeated threats is the ongoing US investigation into Adani. One threat is to expose the financial links between Modi, AA, and Russian oil deals. Modi's hands are tied," Gandhi posted on X.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on August 6 imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India. Trump cited matters of national security and foreign policy concerns, as well as other relevant trade laws, for the increase, claiming that India's imports of Russian oil, directly or indirectly, pose an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States.
Terming the United States' move to impose additional tariffs on India over its oil imports from Russia as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declared that New Delhi will take "all actions necessary to protect its national interests.
In further development, a senior United States Administration Official told ANI that there is simply "no comparison" between the hundreds of billions of dollars of growing Indian imports of Russian oil and the modest US imports of Russian goods.
In response to a question, the US official told ANI, "There is simply no comparison between the hundreds of billions of dollars of growing Indian imports of Russian oil, and the modest U.S. imports of Russian goods, which amount to less than 1% of the value of Indian imports".
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