Feb 11 News Live | After Rahul's fiery attack, Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in Parliament

Rahul Gandhi accuses Govt of “selling India”

“You have allowed Americans to weaponise our energy and our finance against us. How can you even come to this House and make such statements? Are you not ashamed of yourselves? You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata. You have no shame,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“I know the PM would not sell under normal circumstances. He has sold India because they are choking him; they have a grip on his neck. There is fear in the PM's eyes. He can't look straight in the eyes. There are 2 reasons - the Epstein case, because 3 million files are still locked up,” he added.

Jagdambika Pal, presiding over the House, disallows any mention of Epstein.

Rahul Gandhi slams US tariffs, energy curbs, farm impact

“I believe that the PM understands that India's biggest asset is our people and our data. I don't doubt that for a second. What have you done to textiles? The US has reduced Bangladesh's tariff to zero, and our tariff is 18 per cent. What do you expect our textiles people to do? They are dead, finished. If Bangladesh imports US cotton, they have 0 per cent tariffs,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“Let's talk about energy. We fought for energy security, and now it is gone because the US will tell us who we buy oil from. Our PM will not decide; the US will. They will monitor, and if we buy oil from anyone they don't want, they will take our tariffs back to 50 per cent,” he added.

Rahul further stated that for the first time in Indian history, Indian farmers are facing a storm. “You have opened a door to mechanise American farmers and crush our farmers. No PM has ever done this before, and no PM after you will do this. It is disgraceful,” he added.

India must negotiate US deal as equal: Rahul Gandhi

“What is surprising to me is what happened in the deal. If the INDIA alliance was negotiating with President Trump, what we would say is that the most important thing in this equation is Indian data; you want to protect your dollar, please remember that the biggest asset that can help you do that is lying with the Indian people,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“Second, if you want access to this data, talk to us as an equal and not as if we are your servants. We would say Mr. Trump, we are going to protect our energy security. Thirdly, we would tell him we understand you need to protect your farmers, but we will also protect our farmers. We would go there as equals and not be made equal to Pakistan. If Trump decided that he would have breakfast with Pakistan Army chief then we would have something to say about it,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi flags Indian data as key US-China asset

Rashul Gandhi said that there are three things that need to be protected in turbulent times.

“The budget recognises these things, but there is nothing in the budget that addresses these challenges. Parallel to the budget, we have made a deal with the US,” he added.

Elaborating further, Rahul stated that in a contest between the US and China, the single most valuable asset is Indian data. “If the Americans want to remain a superpower and protect their Dollar, the key to it is Indian Data because the Chinese, too ,have a data pool of 1.4 billion. If India is going to the table, we have to say this is what we are putting on the table - our data pool, which in the 21st Century has value,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi warns govt on AI, data power in Lok Sabha

"At the Centre of this fight is AI. I want to warn the government that there will be many consequences of AI. The patrol for AI is data. If you have AI and not data, you have nothing. The Indian and Chinese data are the biggest sources on the planet," said Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha. 

Rahul Gandhi flags ‘Era of War’ in Lok Sabha, cites Economic Survey

 "I was looking at the Economic Survey and two points I found there. First point is that we are living in a world of intensifying geo-political conflict. It means that the old US-centred, unipolar system is being challenged. US dominance is being challenged by the Chinse, Russians and other forces.

The second thing is that we are living in a world where energy and finance have been weaponised. Shockingly, a while back, the PM and NSA stated that the era of war is over. In fact, we are moving into the era of war. War is there in Ukraine, war was there in Gaza, and the threat of war is in Iran," said Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha. 

BJP corporator Ritu Tawde elected Mumbai’s mayor

BJP corporator Ritu Tawde was elected mayor of Mumbai on Wednesday, while Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Ghadi became the deputy mayor.

Both Tawde and Ghadi were elected unopposed in a special meeting of the general body of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

After the election process was completed at the BMC headquarters, Tawde took charge as the 78th mayor of Mumbai amid sloganeering from both the ruling and opposition party corporators.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, were present during the ceremony. They congratulated the newly elected mayor and deputy mayor.

Tawade is a corporator from Ward 132, while Ghadi was elected from Ward 5 in the January 15 civic elections.

In the absence of an elected general body, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had been overseeing the day-to-day affairs of the civic corporation since March 2022.

Former TDB president Vasu granted bail in Sabarimala gold case

A Kerala court on Wednesday granted bail to former TDB president N Vasu, the third accused in one of the alleged gold misappropriation cases at the Sabarimala temple.

He is accused in only one case related to the incident - the Sreekovil door frame case.

A copy of the bail order pronounced by the Vigilance Court in Kollam is yet to be made available, and the conditions imposed by the court are not known so far.

Officials said Vasu is likely to be released from jail by evening.

Vasu was arrested on November 11 last year by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the alleged gold misappropriation at the Sabarimala temple.

A former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, Vasu had also served twice as its Commissioner before being appointed to the top post. A court on Wednesday granted bail to former TDB president N Vasu, the third accused in one of the alleged gold misappropriation cases at the Sabarimala temple.

He is accused in only one case related to the incident -- the Sreekovil door frame case.

A copy of the bail order pronounced by the Vigilance Court here is yet to be made available, and the conditions imposed by the court are not known so far.

Officials said Vasu is likely to be released from jail by evening.

Vasu was arrested on November 11 last year by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the alleged gold misappropriation at the Sabarimala temple.

A former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, Vasu had also served twice as its Commissioner before being appointed to the top post.

Goa minister Atanasio Monserrate acquitted in 2016 rape case

Opposition members shout slogans, walk out of LS

Opposition members on Wednesday walked out of the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour while shouting slogans.

The members shouted "we want justice" the moment the House took up Question Hour.

P C Mohan, who was chairing the proceedings of the House, continued with the Question Hour despite the din.

Around 11.30 am, the Opposition members staged a walkout.