Cut fuel use, Modi tells Indians amid Iran war crisis

Dharvi Vaid AFP, AP, DPA and Reuters Published 2 hours ago

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asking Indians to make a series of changes in their consumption habits to help the country withstand the global economic upheaval from the Iran war. DW has the latest.

What you need to know

• Modi urged Indians to reduce petrol and diesel consumption
• He called for going back to work-from-home systems established during COVID-19
• He appealed to Indians to help conserve the country’s foreign exchange reserves by avoiding unncessary trips and destination weddings abroad

Here are the latest developments from India on Monday, May 11:Skip next section Opposition slams Modi’s austerity call to nation

22 minutes ago

Opposition slams Modi’s austerity call to nation

India’s opposition parties on Monday denounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request to Indians to make lifestyle changes and help cushion the country from the economic repercussions of the Iran war, deeming the leader’s move a “failure” of policy.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Indian parliament’s lower house, said Modi’s appeal was a “proof of failure”.

“Yesterday, Modi ji asked the public to make sacrifices —  don’t buy gold, don’t go abroad, use less petrol, cut down on fertiliser and cooking oil, take the metro, work from home. These aren’t sermons —  these are proofs of failure,” the Congress leader wrote in Hindi on X.

“In 12 years, he’s (Modi) brought the country to such a pass that the public now has to be told —  what to buy, what not to buy, where to go, where not to go. Every time, they shift the responsibility onto the people just so they can wriggle out of accountability themselves,” Gandhi went on to say as he referred to the Modi government’s tenure. 

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram questioned what triggered Modi’s “very serious “directives”.

“The Government must convene Parliament immediately & take the nation into confidence & inform us about the true state of affairs which has necessitated these ‘appeals’,”he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Modi’s call to the public was an “admission of failure” by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. 

He also questioned the timing of the prime minister’s call to action, saying that the Middle East crisis suddenly “came to mind” for the government after the recently-concluded state elections.