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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his appeal to people to exercise restraint in the use of fuel and postpone purchases such as gold amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s remarks, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said the government had pushed the country to a point where citizens were being told “what to buy, what not to buy, where to go and where not to go”.

“PM Modi yesterday asked people to make sacrifices, don’t buy gold, don’t travel abroad, use less petrol, reduce use of fertilisers and cooking oil, travel by metro and work from home. These are not suggestions, they are proof of failure,” Gandhi said in a post on X.

मोदी जी ने कल जनता से त्याग मांगे – सोना मत ख़रीदो, विदेश मत जाओ, पेट्रोल कम जलाओ, खाद और खाने का तेल कम करो, मेट्रो में चलो, घर से काम करो।

ये उपदेश नहीं – ये नाकामी के सबूत हैं।

12 साल में देश को इस मुक़ाम पर ला दिया है कि जनता को बताना पड़ रहा है – क्या ख़रीदे, क्या न…

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 11, 2026

Rahul targets Modi government’s 12-year tenure

He also targeted the Modi government’s 12-year tenure, alleging that responsibility for economic stress was repeatedly shifted onto the public.

“Every time, responsibility is pushed onto the people so that the government can escape accountability. Running the country is no longer within the capacity of a compromised PM,” he said.

What PM Modi said on conserving energy

The remarks came a day after PM Modi, while addressing an event in Telangana, urged citizens to use petrol, diesel and cooking gas “carefully and with restraint” amid growing concerns over global energy supplies due to escalating tensions in the Gulf region.

The Prime Minister had also suggested reviving practices adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic, including work from home, online meetings and video conferencing, to reduce fuel consumption.

Highlighting pressure on India’s foreign exchange reserves due to rising global crude oil prices, PM Modi urged people to prefer metro rail and public transport over private vehicles and asked industries to prioritise railways for cargo movement.

He also appealed to citizens to defer gold purchases for at least a year in order to help conserve foreign exchange.