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The Congress on 11 May launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling for measures to be taken by citizens 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 Opposition in 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 conserve foreign exchange by reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using public transport, carpooling, working from home, postponing gold purchases and foreign travel for a year, and reducing edible oil and fertilizer use.
The appeals were made due to the West Asia conflict, which has led to increased prices of petrol and fertilizers, impacting India's economy and foreign exchange reserves. Modi emphasized the need to save foreign exchange by any means necessary.
The Congress party, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, criticized Modi's appeals as evidence of failure and a way to shift blame for 12 years of economic mismanagement onto the public.
Following PM Modi's appeals to conserve fuel and use public transport, electric vehicle stocks such as JBM Auto, Ola Electric Mobility, and Ather Energy saw a surge in their share prices.
Experts suggest that diesel consumption in agriculture can be scaled back by promoting alternative energy sources like biofuels, biomass, and compressed biogas (CBG), which could also improve farm profitability and support climate commitments.
"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 February 28, 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 from Hyderabad could mean that tough austerity measures may well be on their 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 save foreign exchange due to the crisis, Modi urged people to postpone the purchase of gold 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 a reduction in edible oil consumption, lowering the use of chemical fertilisers, promoting natural farming and Swadeshi products to save foreign exchange and make the country self-reliant.
(With agency inputs)
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