New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday sharply rebutted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the India-US trade deal, accusing him of spreading "stage-managed", "artificial" and "baseless" narratives and attempting to mislead Indian farmers.

He termed Gandhi's claims as "fake" and "fabricated", asserting that they were aimed at confusing hardworking annadatas (farmers) and provoking sentiment against the government's economic policy.

In his X post, Goyal posted a video, saying, "Mr Rahul Gandhi has once again rolled out a stage-managed, most artificial & fake narrative. This time, he is shooting from the shoulders of a few Congress Party activists, who are pretending to be farmer leaders...