New Delhi: Congress on Monday contended that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unusual appeals from Hyderabad signal impending harsh austerity, with the on-ground economy diverging sharply from official “propaganda,” PTI reported.
Congress general secretary in-charge (communications) Jairam Ramesh declared 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.
He cautioned that stringent austerity actions — like fuel price increases — could soon arrive, as efforts ramp up to build public tolerance for them.
“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.
Opposition Hits PM On Fuel Plea
On Sunday, Congress targeted Modi for his call to conserve petroleum wisely, branding him oblivious to India’s energy security needs amid the three-month US-Iran conflict.
The opposition party deemed it “shameless, reckless and downright immoral” for the prime minister to burden citizens with hardships, instead of crafting safeguards to insulate the economy from the global crisis.
Highlighting the government’s bid to buffer people against West Asia conflict’s fallout, Prime Minister Modi on Sunday advocated careful fuel consumption, holding off on gold purchases and foreign trips—as well as sundry other steps—to bolster economic resilience.
Modi’s Rally Forex Steps
Speaking at a rally in Hyderabad hosted by the Telangana BJP, Modi proposed slashing petrol and diesel usage, turning to city metro systems, carpooling, greater adoption of electric vehicles, rail-based parcel logistics, and a return to work-from-home practices to husband foreign exchange reserves during the West Asia crisis.
Amid the turmoil’s forex pressures, he advised holding off on gold acquisitions and international travel for the next 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.
Modi also pushed for trimming edible oil consumption, easing reliance on chemical fertilizers, and championing natural farming alongside Swadeshi products to conserve forex and drive national self-sufficiency.
