'Modi mere propagandist': Mallikarjun Kharge's sharp attack at PM after 2nd fuel price hike

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday criticised the "compromised" Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the second instalment of fuel price hike, accusing him of robbing common people and giving Adani a "free pass" from America while warning that the "day is not far" when the people and the Opposition will "rise up on the streets against this mayhem".

Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Modi has “set the stage” for the hike by “preaching” about savings and “shifting the burden of their failures” onto the public while General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal alleged Modi is “gallivanting” across the world and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is “nowhere to be seen” in the midst of “this difficult moment”.

The remarks came as the prices of petrol and diesel were hiked by 90 paise, days after increasing it by Rs 3, even as the ruling BJP defended the action claiming the increase is among the lowest anywhere in the world outside heavily subsidised Gulf economies.

Kharge said the ruling BJP “lack foresight and leadership” and warned that people will call Modi a mere “propagandist” and “not Pradhan Sevak (Prime Servant)”if he does not provide a proper response on how he intends to manage the crisis.

He said the government has once again increased the fuel prices for a second time in four days. “Having set the stage by preaching about savings, the effort is in full swing to shift the burden of their failures onto the public. Robbing common people and giving Adani a free pass from America -- this is Modi-ji's 'Compromised Model',” he posted on 'X'.

He claimed Modi had filled the air with “false pride” about being 'Viswa Guru' and “pleaded” with the US for a one-month extension for permission to buy Russian oil.

He said the question is if India is “allowed” by the US to buy Russian oil, then why burden the common people with fuel price hikes. “When the crisis hit, they were busy with elections, then spun slick, slippery words to devise a plan for the loot and in the meantime, got their dearest friend off the hook too,” he said referring to the US closing proceedings against Gautam Adani.

Venugopal said there is no clarity on how much more the common public will need to suffer. "All over India, petrol pumps are seeing massive queues and there is widespread panic about our energy situation...In reality, we would not be in this dire situation if our PM wasn’t compromised and compelled to dance to the US’ tunes," he said.

"When we are facing such a massive fuel shortage, we cannot afford to turn down oil from Russia, Iran, Venezuela and the like. Just as we defied US sanctions in 2013, we must again take control of our energy sovereignty and not all others to dictate critical choices. We demand a clear action plan from the government, or else the day is not far when the people and the Opposition will rise up on the streets against this mayhem," he added.