‘Tell the country about the state of our economy’: Arvind Kejriwal’s 3 demands in response to PM Modi’s 7 appeals

New Delhi: am admi party supreme person Arvind Kejriwal Sharp questioning of Prime Minister on Tuesday Narendra ModiIt has issued “seven appeals” to citizens amid the ongoing West Asian conflict, saying the country is “shocked” by the government’s messaging on the economy.The AAP president told a press conference that India has experienced several crises since independence, including wars and economic recession, but never before has such a broad public appeal been issued.“The country has faced many crises since 1950, including wars with Pakistan and China and economic crises. Leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi had also appealed to people not to buy gold earlier, but no government has issued such a broad ‘seven appeals’ to citizens. The entire country is in shock,” Kejriwal said.The former Delhi chief minister said he had made “three demands” to the prime minister after his recent speech asking people to cut back on consumption and spending amid global economic uncertainty.“I have three demands for the prime minister. He should tell the country where our economy is today and what to expect in the near future. Today, there are a lot of rumors circulating in the market, which is not good for people’s confidence in the economy,” he said.Kejriwal linked the situation to the escalating Iran-US conflict and the broader crisis in West Asia but questioned why India’s response seemed harsher than that of other countries.“We all know that this happened because of the US-Iran war and the whole world was affected. But no government has made such an appeal to its citizens. It makes one wonder, maybe the reason is something else,” he said.The AAP leader also expressed concern over what he said was a disproportionate shift of the burden on the middle class.“The middle class is very patriotic, but why is all the burden on them? The first sacrifice should come from the government itself,” Kejriwal said.This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in Secunderabad on Sunday, urging citizens to change their spending habits to cope with growing global economic pressure and the damage caused by conflicts in West Asia.The Prime Minister appealed to people to work from home as much as possible, reduce fuel consumption, avoid traveling abroad for a year, buy Swadeshi products, reduce the use of cooking oil, adopt natural farming and reduce gold purchases.Prime Minister Modi stressed the need to reduce import dependence and said every household should reduce consumption of cooking oil and support natural farming to save foreign exchange and protect the environment.The Prime Minister highlighted India’s rising fertilizer import bill and urged farmers to gradually reduce their use.To combat fluctuating fuel prices, Prime Minister Modi has also called for greater use of metro systems and public transport, encouraged ride-sharing, promoted rail freight and pushed for wider adoption of electric vehicles.The calls come against a backdrop of deepening tensions in West Asia and a deepening global energy crisis triggered by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil trade route in the Gulf.