Rahul Gandhi on Monday intensified the Congress attack on Narendra Modi after the Prime Minister appealed to citizens to reduce fuel consumption, postpone gold purchases, avoid unnecessary foreign travel and revive work-from-home practices amid the ongoing West Asia crisis and rising global economic uncertainty.
Reacting strongly to Modi’s “Nation First, Duty Above Comfort” message to the country, Rahul Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of asking ordinary citizens to bear the burden of what he described as the government’s policy failures and lack of preparedness in handling India’s energy security challenges.
The Congress leader claimed that the Centre’s repeated appeals for public austerity reflected growing economic stress and inadequate contingency planning by the government at a time when the global situation had already remained unstable for months because of the prolonged Iran-US conflict.
In a sharp social media post, Rahul Gandhi wrote that the Prime Minister was effectively asking people to make sacrifices because the government had failed to protect the economy from external shocks.
“Yesterday, Modi ji asked the public to make sacrifices — don’t buy gold, don’t travel abroad, use less petrol, cut down on fertiliser and edible oil, use the metro, and work from home. These are not advisories — they are proof of failure,” Gandhi posted.
He further suggested that citizens were now being forced to alter daily habits and consumption patterns because of failures in governance, planning and economic management.
Earlier in the day, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also questioned the seriousness of the Prime Minister’s message and demanded that Parliament be convened immediately so that the government could explain the actual situation to the Opposition and the country.
Karti Chidambaram described the Prime Minister’s statements as extremely serious and questioned what specific circumstances or intelligence inputs had led the government to issue such public appeals.
“These are very serious directives from the PMO. What are the triggers for this? The government must convene Parliament immediately, take the nation into confidence, and inform us about the true state of affairs that has necessitated these appeals,” he said in a post on X.
The Congress attack further intensified after Modi appealed to citizens to carefully use petroleum products and conserve fuel in view of the worsening global situation and supply-chain disruptions caused by the continuing conflict in West Asia.
Senior Congress leader and party general secretary KC Venugopal accused the Prime Minister of failing to ensure India’s energy security despite the Iran-US conflict continuing for nearly three months.
Venugopal alleged that instead of preparing proper safeguards and contingency mechanisms to protect the economy, the government was shifting responsibility onto common citizens.
In a strongly worded post, he said, “Three months into the Iran-US war and PM Modi is still clueless about ensuring India’s energy security.”
He further described the government’s approach as “shameless, reckless and downright immoral”, arguing that citizens should not be forced to face inconvenience because of poor planning by the Centre.
According to Venugopal, the government should have already ensured sufficient fuel reserves and stronger economic protections to shield ordinary Indians from global instability.
He also accused the Prime Minister of prioritising elections and political campaigns over long-term economic planning, warning that such an approach could eventually push the country towards a larger economic crisis.
The Congress leader said the government must ensure that no citizen suffers because of failures in preparation or lack of foresight regarding the energy crisis and rising global fuel prices.
The controversy began after Prime Minister Modi, while addressing a BJP rally in Hyderabad, urged citizens to reduce unnecessary consumption and support the country during the ongoing international crisis.
The Prime Minister said the government was attempting to shield people from the adverse effects of the war and global supply-chain disruptions, but stressed that citizens also needed to contribute by conserving resources and reducing dependence on imports.
Modi suggested increased use of metro rail services, electric vehicles, railway parcel transport and carpooling as ways to reduce fuel consumption and save foreign exchange.
He also urged companies and citizens to once again adopt work-from-home systems, virtual meetings and video conferencing methods that became common during the COVID pandemic.
“We developed work from home, virtual meetings, video conferencing and many other methods during Corona. We got habituated to it. The need of the hour is to resume those methods,” the Prime Minister said during the rally.
Explaining the reasons behind the appeal, Modi said the ongoing war had sharply increased the prices of petrol and fertilisers worldwide and had created pressure on international supply chains despite government efforts to minimise the impact.
“That’s why, during the global crisis, keeping the country above all else, we have to take resolutions,” he said.
The Prime Minister also appealed to citizens to postpone gold purchases and foreign travel for one year in order to conserve foreign exchange reserves during the ongoing geopolitical crisis.
“We have to save foreign exchange by any means,” Modi said.
In addition, he called for reduced use of edible oil and chemical fertilisers and encouraged people to support natural farming and swadeshi products as part of a broader push towards economic self-reliance.
The political exchange between the Congress and the Prime Minister has now developed into a wider debate over India’s preparedness for global energy disruptions, rising fuel costs, inflation risks, foreign exchange management and the economic fallout of the continuing conflict in West Asia.
