Manickam Tagore criticises PM Modi's "seven appeals", says "economic failure repackaged as moral advice"

In an 'X' post, the Congress MP further slammed the Prime Minister stating that due to his 12 years of "acche din", the citizens of the country will have to lower their living standard.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore has come out heavily against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent "seven appeals" for countering West Asia crisis and stressed that PM Modi's remarks don't justify his patriotism but an economic failure which has been "repackaged as moral advice." In an 'X' post, the Congress MP further slammed the Prime Minister stating that due to his 12 years of "acche din", the citizens of the country will have to lower their living standard.

"Modi ji, stop preaching sacrifice to Indians while your government celebrates extravagance every single day. You tell citizens: Don't buy gold. Don't travel abroad. Use less petrol. Consume less cooking oil. Work from home. Cut down everything. Why? Because after 12 years of "Achhe Din," the common man is now expected to survive by lowering his standard of living. This is not patriotism. This is economic failure being repackaged as moral advice," he said. Tagore further mentioned that "Compromised PM" would only lecture the citizens to live on fewer resources; however, a strong Prime Minister would build an economy in which citizens can afford fuel, food, travel, education, and savings with dignity. He further noted that the country doesn't require "sermons" from government which has failed households but mastered headlines.

"A strong Prime Minister builds an economy where people can afford fuel, food, travel, education, and savings with dignity. A Compromised PM lectures people on how to live with less. If sacrifice is necessary, start from the top. Cut the PR spending. Cut the luxury convoys. Cut the endless self-promotion campaigns. Ask billionaire friends to sacrifice their profits before asking struggling middle-class and poor families to sacrifice their futures. India does not need sermons from a government that has mastered headlines but failed households. When rulers become incapable of governing, they start blaming citizens for wanting a decent life," said Tagore. This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made "seven appeals" from the nation to counter the ongoing West Asia crisis.

While addressing an event in Secunderabad, the Prime Minister emphasised the need to curb the usage of petrol and diesel amidst the ongoing West Asia crisis. PM Modi reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic period, where work from Home had become culture for every household, and stressed adapting it at present. He also stressed on people to limit their foreign travels for at least a year so that country's foreign exchange could be saved.

"In this time of global crisis, we have to make a resolution keeping duty paramount and fulfil it with complete dedication. A big resolution is to use petrol and diesel sparingly. We must curb our use of petrol and diesel. In cities with metro lines, we should decide to travel by metro only. If we must use a car, then we should try to carpool... People with electric vehicles should try to use them as much as possible. During the Corona period, we developed many systems of work from home, online meetings, and video conferences, and we even became accustomed to them. Today, the demands of the times are such that if we restart these systems, it will be in the national interest. We must prioritise work from home, online conferences, and virtual meetings again," PM Modi said. "We must also place a strong emphasis on saving foreign exchange, as petrol and diesel have become so expensive globally... It is our responsibility to save the foreign currency spent on purchasing petrol and diesel... The growing culture of weddings abroad, travelling abroad, and vacationing abroad is becoming prevalent among the middle class. We must decide that during this time of crisis, we should postpone travelling abroad for at least a year," he added.

PM Modi also requested the citizens to cut their purchase of gold while reflecting on its impact on the country's foreign exchange. "Gold purchases are another area where foreign exchange is used extensively... In the national interest, we must resolve not to purchase gold for a year, no matter how many functions we have scheduled at home," said PM Modi.

He also urged to cut down the usage of edible oil and chemical fertilisers while calling it a "huge contribution to patriotism" and its impact to improve health of national treasury and health. "The same is true for edible oil. We have to spend foreign currency on its import. If every household reduces the use of edible oil, it is a huge contribution to patriotism... This will improve the health of the national treasury and the health of every family member. Another sector that consumes foreign currency is our agriculture. We import chemical fertilisers in large quantities from abroad... We should reduce our consumption of chemical fertilisers by half and move towards natural farming. This way, we can save foreign currency and our farms and Mother Earth," said PM Modi. (ANI)