Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday referred to the rising fuel prices and inflation to warn of an economic crisis worse than anything seen before, and urged people to “throw out” the
Narendra Modi government if they wanted to save the country.
His comments came on a day the Centre raised petrol and diesel prices by about 90 paise a litre, four days after hiking their prices by about ₹3, with other Opposition leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav and Bhagwant Mann joining in the criticism.
“A storm is about to hit the country.... I call on the labourers, farmers, youths and all the poor people to save the country,” Rahul said during a conversation with reporters in his parliamentary constituency, Rae Bareli.
He said the economic crisis would be one the like of which “we have never experienced in our lives”.
The Lok Sabha leader of the Opposition later tried to explain the situation in simple terms to a crowd after inaugurating a public marriage hall, built with his MP’s fund, at Mauhari village in the Bachhrawan area.
Rahul added: “It is now up to the people whether they want this government, along with massive inflation, or they want to throw out the government to save themselves and the country.”
Congress president Kharge posted on X: “Just four days after the price hike, the Modi government has once again increased the prices of petrol and diesel. Having set the stage, preaching about savings while shifting the burden of their failures onto the public -- this effort is in full swing. Robbing the common people and giving Adani a free pass from America — this is Modiji’s Compromised Model.”
The US department of justice recently dropped all criminal charges against industrialist Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar in a securities and wire fraud case in New York.
Akhilesh, the Samajwadi Party president, said the Opposition would make inflation its main plank during next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections.
Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party chief minister, Bhagwant Mann, slammed the fuel price hike and accused the Centre of blaming the “failures” of its foreign and economic policies on the West Asia conflict.
In Jaipur, CPM workers protested the fuel price rise outside the district collectorate.
Rahul also addressed a gathering of over 1,000 women in the Lalganj area of Rae Bareli to explain why the government’s amendment bill on women’s reservation had failed to pass in Parliament.
“It was not the intention of the BJP government to give you reservation. All they wanted was to delimit the constituencies and avoid a caste census,” he said.
Some BJP leaders had initially planned to protest against Rahul’s visit.
One of them, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “There were no crowds at Rahul’s meetings, apparently because of the 45-degree temperature; so we decided not to venture out.”
“A war started between Iran and America. Iran captured (the Strait of) Hormuz, the sea passage through which (ships carrying) oil pass,” he said.
“The entire world faces an oil crisis but Modi asks you not to buy gold and use electric cars. Immediately afterwards, he himself goes on a foreign trip.”
Rahul added: “The truth is that we are on the verge of an economic storm. It will not harm the multibillionaires; it will hurt India’s farmers, labourers, youths, small traders and small industries.
“Petrol prices are set to rise, and inflation will skyrocket. Yet, when I started saying that we will soon face an economic crisis, they said Rahul Gandhi doesn’t understand anything.”