The Indian National Congress on Sunday launched a sharp political attack on Narendra Modi over his public appeal asking citizens to conserve fuel and postpone gold purchases amid the ongoing global energy crisis linked to the Iran-US conflict and instability in West Asia.
The opposition party accused the Prime Minister and the central government of failing to adequately prepare for the worsening global energy situation and unfairly shifting the burden of the crisis onto ordinary citizens instead of strengthening India’s energy security systems and economic safeguards.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal criticised the Centre’s handling of the situation and claimed the government still appeared “clueless” about protecting India’s energy interests despite the conflict continuing for several months.
“Three months into the Iran-US war and PM Modi is still clueless about ensuring India’s energy security,” Venugopal wrote in a social media post while accusing the government of lacking long-term planning.
He further alleged that asking common citizens to cut consumption instead of creating stronger contingency mechanisms reflected poor governance and misplaced priorities at a time of global uncertainty.
“It is shameless, reckless and downright immoral that the PM is pushing the common citizen into inconvenience, instead of building contingencies to ensure our economy is unaffected by this global crisis,” Venugopal said.
The Congress criticism came shortly after Modi addressed a BJP rally in Hyderabad, where he urged people to revive several practices adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to reduce fuel consumption and help India save foreign exchange during the ongoing international crisis.
During the rally, Modi encouraged citizens to increasingly adopt work-from-home arrangements, virtual meetings and video conferencing wherever possible in order to lower dependence on petrol and diesel consumption.
“We developed work from home, virtual meetings and video conferencing during Corona. We got habituated to it. The need of the hour is to resume those methods,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the gathering.
Modi also appealed to citizens to postpone purchases of gold and reduce foreign travel for at least one year, arguing that India needed to conserve foreign exchange reserves while dealing with rising global economic uncertainty caused by the escalating West Asia conflict.
“We have to save foreign exchange by any means,” Modi stated during the speech.
The Prime Minister additionally urged greater use of public transport systems such as metro rail networks, railway parcel services, electric vehicles and carpooling in order to cut fuel demand and reduce pressure on the economy.
He also called for reduced consumption of edible oils and chemical fertilisers, warning that the ongoing conflict and disruptions in global supply chains had sharply increased international prices of fuel, fertilisers and other commodities.
“When there is pressure on the supply chain, difficulties increase despite various measures by the government to overcome the crisis,” Modi said while explaining the economic impact of the international situation.
Venugopal, however, warned that the Centre’s approach could lead to deeper economic problems if stronger preparations were not made quickly enough to shield the country from external shocks.
“When elections and petty politics are the sole priority of the PM, the end result is an impending economic catastrophe,” he said while demanding better planning from the government.
The Congress leader also called on the Centre to ensure sufficient fuel reserves and prevent ordinary citizens from facing financial hardship because of what he described as inadequate preparation by the government.
Responding to the criticism, Hardeep Singh Puri defended the Prime Minister’s appeal and argued that public participation in energy conservation would help India manage the economic consequences of military conflict involving major oil-producing countries.
“Measures such as these will help the nation conserve energy, save on the energy import bill and overcome the challenges arising out of the serious military conflict involving many energy-producing nations,” Puri wrote in a social media post.
The Union minister said India had managed to maintain stable energy supplies and avoid steep fuel price hikes despite ongoing international turmoil, unlike several other countries facing severe disruptions.
“India is among the very few countries which have not raised energy prices and has maintained steady supplies to citizens even as crises unfold in many parts of the world,” he stated.
Puri also revealed that oil marketing companies were currently purchasing crude oil, gas and LPG at significantly higher global prices while continuing to sell fuel domestically at lower rates, resulting in heavy financial losses.
According to him, oil companies were facing under-recoveries that could reach nearly Rs 2 lakh crore during the current quarter, while daily losses had already climbed close to Rs 1,000 crore.
The petroleum minister further noted that the Modi government had already reduced excise duties on retail fuel prices, leading to an estimated monthly revenue loss of around Rs 14,000 crore for the Centre.
Puri concluded by appealing to citizens to support the government’s conservation efforts and described Modi’s message as an “empathetic appeal” that should become a nationwide public movement aimed at saving energy and protecting the country during a period of global instability.
The sharp exchange between the Congress and the BJP reflects the intensifying political battle over rising fuel costs, economic management and India’s preparedness amid growing tensions in West Asia and the wider global energy crisis.
