Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent appeal urging citizens to adopt austerity measures amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East has prompted sharp political reactions from Maharashtra's opposition, with leaders questioning both the timing and intent of the Centre's message.
The prime minister has appealed to citizens to avoid non-essential gold purchases, reduce petrol and diesel consumption, postpone foreign travel, and adopt practices such as working from home, citing pressure on India's foreign exchange reserves due to escalating crude oil prices and instability in West Asia.
Call For An All-Party Meeting
Reacting to the appeal, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar said the prime minister's announcements could have "far-reaching impacts" on the country's economy and had created an atmosphere of unease among ordinary citizens, industries, businesses, and investors.
He urged the PM to call for an urgent all-party meeting.
"The sudden nature of these announcements has created an atmosphere of unease among ordinary citizens, the industry-business sector, as well as investors. This situation is certainly a cause for concern," said the Rajya Sabha MP.
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Pawar also suggested organising meetings with industry leaders to help control the situation.
Senior Congress MLA Nana Patole claimed that the concerns being raised now had already been flagged earlier by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Referring to India's foreign policy and regional positioning, Patole alleged that Pakistan had gained diplomatic space.
In response to demands for an all-party meeting, Patole said such consultations were a long-standing democratic tradition.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray questioned why austerity was being demanded only from citizens while political leaders continued to hold extravagant public events and campaigns.
In a strongly worded statement, Thackeray pointed to the large convoys, helicopter tours, roadshows, flower showers, and high-expense political campaigns conducted by top BJP leaders.
"Why should the common man suffer for your mistakes? Is austerity meant only for the citizens and never for the political class?" he asked.
Thackeray also argued that crude oil prices touching 90-100 dollars per barrel was not unprecedented, citing earlier periods such as the 2008 financial crisis, the Arab Spring years, and the OPEC-led supply cuts in 2022-23. He noted that former prime minister Manmohan Singh had not made similar public appeals during comparable economic situations.
He further questioned the Centre over fuel taxation, alleging that even when global crude prices had fallen significantly in recent years, Indian consumers continued to pay high petrol and diesel prices due to heavy taxes imposed by the government.
