Modi 'misleading' people: Congress

Prime Minister is either misinformed or he chose to make a statement, which is factually incorrect

New Delhi: Congress on Saturday launched an all out attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of "misleading" people on the WTO issue and ridiculed BJP over its "Congress phobia".

"The statements that Modi has made are confirming the worst apprehensions of a partisan political agenda to mislead and misinform the public opinion. His claims that the UPA government had given up on the rights of food security in WTO is astonishing and utterly false," former Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told PTI.

At the BJP National Council meet, Modi hit out at the Congress led UPA government regime, saying "those who sought votes in the name of food security, signed the agreement (sacrificing the interest of poor people)". Sharma had signed the agreement at Bali last year which among other things had agreed for signing the TFA by July 31, 2014.

The agreement also has a peace clause under which India's public stock-holding, necessary for its food security programme, will not be questioned for four years ending 2017 even if it breached the 10 per cent WTO ceiling on food subsidy.

Attacking Modi on the issue, Sharma said," the Prime Minister of India is expected to be well-informed and literate about the position taken by India in multinational forums and the WTO. The Prime Minister was either been misinformed or had chosen to make a statement, which is factually incorrect and false deliberately."

He further said, "It is embarrassing that the Prime Minister is confusing the right of public stock holding issue with sovereign right of food security. Food security is a sovereign right and a sovereign space and has never been a part of WTO agenda."