Rahul Gandhi immature, lacks understanding of economy, says Goyal on Congress leader’s textile remarks

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday, February 14, 2026, described Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as “immature” and lacks understanding of the economy and accused the Opposition party of spreading misinformation as it does not have a constructive agenda to criticize the Narendra Modi government.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on the Union Budget, Goyal said Rahul Gandhi was “thousands of kilometers away from the truth” and asserted that “discredited leaders” like him may try but they cannot stop PM Modi and his service to the nation.

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“Congress is frustrated. It has no plan or solution other than spreading misinformation and fabricated allegations. There is no point in criticizing us. They are trying to mislead our farmers by spreading false and inaccurate information,” he said.

The minister further said, “I am sure that discredited leaders like Rahul Gandhi in the Congress and their allies of popularly rejected parties like TMC, DMK and SP may try hundreds of thousands of times, but no one can stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his service to the nation.” he said.

The Mumbai North BJP Lok Sabha MP said the Congress failed to understand its own limitations.

“Rahul Gandhi has no knowledge of the economy, he only tweets false and misleading information on social media. He is thousands of miles away from the truth. India’s capacity and need to grow cotton will both increase. The policy of importing this material and processing it for export is an old practice in global trade,” the minister said. he said.

In another attack on Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the Indo-US trade deal on cotton cultivation and textile sector, he said such level of allegations are made when immature people enter politics.

Replying to a question, Goyal said textiles are a shining example in the country’s overall exports, accounting for around Rs 3.60 lakh crore of the total, which will more than double in the coming time.

“Among the free trade agreements that India has put forward in the last few months, the textile sector’s contribution will be around half a trillion US dollars, which works out to around ₹45 lakh crore. This will benefit us as the textile market is now opened up for us. The United States alone supplies textiles worth around ₹9 lakh crore annually. Moreover, reciprocal duties on Indian goods have been reduced to 18% from the previous 50%,” he said.

Goyal claimed that about half of the total exports from India to the US will go with zero duty and the remaining 18 percent will be the lowest customs duties compared to other rival countries.

“We are behind China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. India has received the lowest tariffs from the US compared to our competitors, opening up a $30 trillion market to India. I think this is a game changer for India’s future development.” he said.

The Union Minister also stated that the European Union has procured goods worth around Rs 22-23 lakh crore from India, adding that the textile products will be exported to markets like the EU, New Zealand and the UK at zero duty.

“USA produces around 480 million pounds of cotton bales every year, worth ₹1.25 lakh crore. This cannot harm the interests of India’s cotton growers. US exports cotton worth around ₹45,000 crore. In my estimation, one region of India produces more cotton than this,” the minister said.

The senior BJP leader added that the country’s demand for cotton is much higher and is increasing.