Union Minister Piyush Goyal. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has sent a letter to President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday (February 22, 2026), urging her to dismiss Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal from his post for “betraying the nation’s confidence” by entering into a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. The SKM urged her to direct the Prime Minister not to sign the deal on terms which were detrimental to farmers. It also sought a direction from her against a recent demi order of the Union Finance Ministry asking the Kerala government to end bonus to paddy farmers.
The SKM alleged in the letter that the Narendra Modi government succumbed to the pressures of the United States and endangered the self-reliance and sovereignty of the country. Maintaining that the terms accepted as per the interim agreement were detrimental to the interests of the Indian economy and India’s farmers, the SKM said the government remained silent about the terms. “In fact, all announcements made by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, the chief negotiator, only confirm the worst fears, that the government is either unable to or unwilling to stand up to U.S. diktats. Such acquiescence before an imperial superpower has led to serious resentment among the farming community,” the letter said.
‘No satisfactory answer’
The SKM asked when no agreement had been signed as of now, why did U.S. President Donald Trump declare the free trade agreement with India. “Why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorse India as a party to the agreement? Why no statement placed in the Parliament that was in session? The Prime Minister has yet to give a satisfactory answer,” the SKM said.
On cotton, the SKM said India was self-dependent with double the production of the U.S. “The withdrawal of 11% cotton import duty on August 19, 2025 has sunk domestic cotton prices. Cotton farmers are staring at very serious losses,” it said, adding that Mr. Goyal was insensitive to the issues of cotton farmers. The SKM added that the deal would put over 55 lakh apple farmer families in the country into crisis. Maize would be imported as dry distilled grain (DDG) as per the interim agreement and the import of DDG would deplete the domestic prices and impact 120 lakh corn farmers, the SKM maintained. “Import of ethanol and maize will harm the sugar industry and around 500 lakh sugarcane farmers,” the letter added.
Published – February 22, 2026 09:30 pm IST
