‘Your utilities are done’: Opun warns of rising petrol and diesel prices after PM Modi calls for reduced fuel use amid West Asia crisis

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties upped the ante on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as he urged citizens to reduce fuel and cooking oil consumption amid the ongoing West Asian crisis, claiming fuel prices would rise after the parliamentary elections.Earlier, Prime Minister Modi urged people to reduce their use of cooking oil, adopt public transport, ride-sharing and electric vehicles, and switch to natural farming methods to reduce dependence on imports and save foreign exchange.

Calling it a form of “economic self-defence”, Prime Minister Modi said patriotism today means responsible living and prudent consumption in the face of disruptions to global supply chains and rising fuel prices caused by conflicts in West Asia.who said whatRahul GandhiLeader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said in a social media post on X that Prime Minister Modi’s call exposed the limitations of his ten-year tenure.“Yesterday, Modi asked the public to make sacrifices – don’t buy gold, don’t go abroad, use less petrol, use less fertilizers and cooking oil, ride the metro, work from home. These are not sermons – they are proof of failure,” Rahul Gandhi said.Also read: PM Modi pushes to reduce fuel use, gold purchases, support working from home“For 12 years he has brought the country to a position where the public must now be told what to buy, what not to buy, where to go and where not to go. Each time, they put the blame on the people so they can escape responsibility themselves. Running the country is no longer the purview of a compromised prime minister,” he added.‘Til the elections, Modi will bear your burden’Reacting to PM Modi’s remarks, AAP MP Sanjay Singh claimed that common people are being asked to take responsibility in the name of patriotism.“Dear countrymen, before the elections, Modi carried your burden; once the elections are over, your function is complete. Now, in the name of patriotism, get in line. Natural gas has become expensive; now gasoline and diesel will become more expensive as well. In the name of patriotism, one must stop using petrol, diesel, gas; do not buy gold; do not even use cooking oil,” Singh said.He further accused the government of double standards and criticized the prime minister’s public events and foreign visits.“But Modi will lead hundreds of thousands of people to attend his rallies in droves, travel abroad, burn huge amounts of fuel; his people will not only buy gold, they will snap up the wealth of the entire country, but you continue to play dumb. Yes, if you cannot stand Modi’s inflation, blind believers and stooge media will declare you a Pakistani,” the AAP leader added.Akhilesh YadavMeanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the BJP government has failed in handling both the economy and foreign policy, calling its appeal an “admission of failure”.Akhilesh said in a post on X: “As soon as the elections were over, the government suddenly remembered the ‘crisis’. In fact, there is only one crisis in this country and its name is the BJP. “The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister questioned how the country will achieve its goal of becoming a “$5 trillion economy” if the government is forced to impose multiple restrictions.“With so many restrictions in place, how will the much-vaunted ‘five trillion dollar economy’ become a reality? It seems the BJP government has completely lost control,” he said.Yadav claimed that the rupee has depreciated significantly against the US dollar and alleged that the economic management of the BJP government has collapsed.“The dollar is appreciating and the Indian rupee is falling further,” he said.He also blamed the Centre’s foreign policy for the current economic situation, claiming that the BJP government has abandoned India’s traditional non-aligned approach.“The real reason behind these situations is that the BJP government abandoned the country’s traditional non-alignment policy and aligned with certain groups due to specific pressures and interests,” he said.BJP strikes backThe BJP has rebutted Rahul Gandhi, claiming that Congress politics is still limited to power rather than nation-building.Amit Malviya, head of the IT unit of the BJP, posted on X that Modi was not asking people to make sacrifices, but urged them to make conscious choices in the interest of the country, such as conserving energy, promoting local products, retaining foreign exchange and increasing self-reliance.“But that’s the problem with Congress. Any call for public participation in the national interest sounds like ‘preaching’ to them because their politics are still limited to power, not nation-building,” he said.Talking about the impact of conflicts in West Asia, Malviya said every global crisis affects the entire world and quoted India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to counter Gandhi’s attack.“If calling on the public to fulfill their responsibilities is considered a ‘failure’, was your beloved Nehru also a ‘compromising prime minister’?” he asked.“Nehru himself said that when war breaks out in other countries, India also feels the impact of the war in the form of inflation. Was this also an ‘excuse’, or was this considered responsible leadership at the time? Malvia said.He also shared an old video purportedly of Nehru, in which the former prime minister can be heard saying that when countries like South Korea or the United States go to war, the country will be affected.He added that responsible leadership tells people the truth and calls for collective participation in addressing challenges.