The Congress on 11 May launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling on citizens to take measures to overcome the challenges posed by the West Asia conflict, saying that the “compromised PM” is no longer capable of running the country.
The opposition party also asked Prime Minister Modi not to shift the blame for “12 years of failures” onto the shoulders of the Indian public.
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said the prime minister’s words were “evidence of failure”. “Yesterday, Modi Ji called upon the public to make sacrifices – do not buy gold, do not travel abroad, consume less petrol, cut down on fertilisers and cooking oil, take the metro, and work from home,” Gandhi said in an X post in Hindi.
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PM Modi urged citizens to reduce petrol and diesel consumption, use public transport like metro rail, carpool, increase the use of electric vehicles, and work from home. He also suggested postponing non-essential foreign travel and gold purchases for a year.
The appeals were made due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, which has led to increased global fuel prices and pressure on India’s foreign exchange reserves. Modi stated the need to save foreign exchange by any means to mitigate the economic impact.
The Congress party, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, criticized Modi’s appeals, calling them evidence of failure and an attempt to shift blame for 12 years of economic mismanagement onto the public.
Experts suggest that the appeals aim to cushion the impact of rising crude oil prices, which can increase inflation and widen India’s current account deficit. The situation also highlights India’s heavy dependence on imported crude oil.
Electric vehicle (EV) stocks saw a surge in response to Modi’s appeals, as did companies involved in public transportation. Additionally, experts suggest that biofuels and compressed biogas could offer alternatives for diesel consumption in agriculture.
“These are not words of counsel; they are evidence of failure,” he said.
Over a span of 12 years, the country has been brought to such a juncture that the public now has to be told what to buy and what not to buy, where to go and where not to go, Gandhi said.
“Time and again, they shift the responsibility onto the public to evade their own accountability,” Gandhi said, adding, “The ‘compromised PM’ is no longer capable of running the country.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that at a time when people are struggling under the weight of adversity, the prime minister is busy lecturing the country on the virtues of saving.
“When the conflict in West Asia erupted on 28 February, the Congress party highlighted every critical aspect of the crisis – the devastation of the economy; the continuous depreciation of the Rupee; soaring prices and shortages of petrol, diesel and LPG; scarcity of fertilisers for farmers; the looming threat to food security; the rising cost of medicines; the crisis facing MSMEs; and much more!” Kharge said on X.
Why, then, was the prime minister so engrossed in election campaigning and was conducting roadshows, he asked.
“Why was he claiming that ‘the situation is under control’ and that ‘everything is fine’? Now that the elections are over, the nation is being subjected to sermons – don’t do this, don’t buy that, save on this, work from home,” Kharge said.
“Do not shift the blame for your own 12 years of failures onto the shoulders of the Indian public, Modi Ji!” the Congress chief said.
Congress general secretary in-charge (communications) Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “unexpected pleas” to the people of Hyderabad could signal that tough austerity measures may be on the way.
He claimed that the ground-level economic situation is far removed from the “government’s propaganda”.
Ramesh asserted that the time for reckoning has arrived.
“The prime minister’s unexpected pleas to the people of the country made from Hyderabad yesterday (Sunday) could mean the following — The economic situation is far more serious than what official numbers suggest and what the prime minister and his colleagues have been claiming all this while,” Ramesh said on X.
Tough austerity measures, including an increase in fuel prices, may well be on their way, and an environment is being created to make them more acceptable, he said.
“That the ground-level economic situation — reflected, for instance, in stagnation in real wages, growing household indebtedness, and lack of momentum in job-creating private investment — is far removed from the Modi government’s propaganda has been obvious for a long time,” Ramesh said.
What PM Modi said?
Addressing a rally in Hyderabad on Sunday, PM Modi suggested reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using metro rail services in cities, carpooling, increased use of electric vehicles, utilising railway services for parcel movement, and working from home to conserve foreign exchange amid the crisis in West Asia.
Stressing the need to conserve foreign exchange amid the crisis, Modi urged people to postpone gold purchases and foreign travel for one year.
“We have to save foreign exchange by any means,” he said, adding that due to the West Asia conflict, prices of petrol and fertilisers have increased significantly.
When there is pressure on the supply chain, difficulties increase despite various government measures to address the situation, he had said. “That’s why, during a global crisis, keeping the country above all else, we have to take resolutions,” he had said.
“We got into work-from-home, virtual meetings, video conferencing, and many other methods during Covid-19. We got used to them. The need of the hour is to resume those methods,” Modi had said.
He called for reducing edible oil consumption, lowering the use of chemical fertilisers, and promoting natural farming and Swadeshi products to save foreign exchange and make the country self-reliant.
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