PM austerity appeal row: BJP's counterattack on Rahul Gandhi invokes Nehru's speech

The ruling party's response came after Gandhi attacked PM Modi over his remarks -- about measures suggested to citizens to cope with the West Asia conflict's impact -- saying that the 'compromised PM' is no longer capable of running the country.

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday hit back at Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of the prime minister's austerity appeal amid the West Asia conflict, saying the Congress party's politics has remained confined to power and not nation-building.

The ruling party's response came after Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks -- about measures suggested to citizens to cope with the West Asia conflict's impact -- saying that the "compromised PM" is no longer capable of running the country.

The Congress leader said the prime minister's words were "evidence of failure".

In a post on X, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said Modi has not asked people to make sacrifices but urged them to make conscious choices in the national interest, such as conserving energy, promoting indigenous products, preserving foreign exchange and strengthening self-reliance.

"But this is precisely the Congress party's problem. Any call for public participation in the national interest sounds like 'preaching' to them, because their politics has remained confined to power, not nation-building," he said.

Referring to the impact of the West Asia conflict, Malviya said every global crisis affects the entire world and cited India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to counter Gandhi's attack.

"If appealing to the public to fulfil its responsibility is considered a 'failure', then was your beloved Nehru also a 'compromised PM'?" he asked.

"Nehru himself had said that when wars break out in other countries, their impact is felt in India in the form of inflation. Was that also an 'excuse' then, or was it considered responsible leadership at the time?" Malviya said.

He also shared an old purported video of Nehru in which the former prime minister can be heard saying that the country is impacted when wars take place in countries such as Korea or America.

He added that responsible leadership tells people the truth and appeals for collective participation in facing challenges.

Emphasising that the Centre is trying to shield people from the adverse impact of the West Asia conflict, Modi on Sunday called for judicious use of fuel, postponement of gold purchases and foreign travel, among other measures, to strengthen the economy.

Addressing a rally organised by the Telangana BJP in Hyderabad, he suggested reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using metro rail services in cities, carpooling, increased use of electric vehicles, utilising railway services for parcel movement and working from home to conserve foreign exchange amid the crisis in West Asia.

Stressing the need to save foreign exchange due to the crisis, Modi called for postponing the purchase of gold and foreign travel for one year.

He called for reduction in edible oil consumption, lowering the use of chemical fertilisers and promoting natural farming and Swadeshi products to save foreign exchange and make the country self-reliant. "Yesterday, Modi Ji called upon the public to make sacrifices... These are not words of counsel; they are evidence of failure," Gandhi said in an X post in Hindi.

"Over a span of 12 years, the country has been brought to such a juncture that the public now has to be told what to buy and what not to buy, where to go and where not to go," Gandhi said.

Time and again, they shift the responsibility onto the public to evade their own accountability, he added.