The BJP on Monday hit back at Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s austerity appeal amid the West Asia conflict, accusing the Congress of prioritising power politics over nation-building.
The ruling party’s response came after Gandhi attacked Modi over his suggestions to citizens on coping with the fallout of the West Asia crisis, saying the “compromised PM” was no longer capable of running the country.
The Congress leader had said the prime minister’s remarks were “evidence of failure”.
Countering Gandhi, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said Modi had not asked people to make sacrifices but appealed for responsible choices in the national interest.
In a post on X, Malviya said Modi had urged citizens to conserve energy, promote indigenous products, preserve foreign exchange and strengthen self-reliance.
“But this is precisely the Congress party's problem. Any call for public participation in the national interest sounds like 'preaching' to them, because their politics has remained confined to power, not nation-building,” he said.
Invoking India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Malviya said global crises have always had economic consequences for India.
“If appealing to the public to fulfil its responsibility is considered a 'failure', then was your beloved Nehru also a 'compromised PM'?” he asked.
“Nehru himself had said that when wars break out in other countries, their impact is felt in India in the form of inflation. Was that also an 'excuse' then, or was it considered responsible leadership at the time?” Malviya said.
He also shared an old purported video clip of Nehru in which the former prime minister is heard saying that conflicts in countries such as Korea or America affect India as well.
Malviya added that responsible leadership involves speaking honestly to people and seeking collective participation during difficult times.
The political exchange follows Modi’s remarks at a Telangana BJP rally in Hyderabad on Sunday, where he appealed to citizens to use fuel judiciously and help conserve foreign exchange amid the West Asia conflict.
The prime minister suggested reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using metro services, carpooling, increasing the use of electric vehicles, shifting parcel movement to railways and resuming work-from-home practices adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also urged people to postpone gold purchases and foreign travel for a year, reduce edible oil consumption, cut the use of chemical fertilisers and promote natural farming and Swadeshi products.
Attacking the prime minister over the remarks, Gandhi said on X in Hindi, “Yesterday, Modi Ji called upon the public to make sacrifices... These are not words of counsel; they are evidence of failure.”
“Over a span of 12 years, the country has been brought to such a juncture that the public now has to be told what to buy and what not to buy, where to go and where not to go,” Gandhi said.
“Time and again, they shift the responsibility onto the public to evade their own accountability,” he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
