New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged citizens to reduce fuel consumption, carpool, use public transport, work from home, “use less cooking oil” and limit non-essential foreign travel “for a year”. Government sources linked his appeal to ongoing tensions in West Asia that could disrupt oil supplies and raise import costs.The timing of this call for national sacrifice again reveals deep political expediency which has characterised Modi’s political leadership. He waited until the conclusion of the 2026 assembly elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu to announce these austerity measures. During the high voltage election campaign, the Modi government made no mention of the impending economic crisis or the need for fuel conservation. His party’s political machinery utilised massive resources and fuel for rallies while ignoring the sharply deteriorating forex reserves.Now that the voting is over, does the Modi government expect the public to adopt work-from-home models and limit travel to compensate for its financial failures and inability to plan ahead? Critics say this represents a cynical approach to governance where the burden of economic mismanagement is only shared with the public once political power is captured by extravagant use of state resources.The government is continuing with expensive central projects and political spectacles, road shows that immediately followed Modi’s speech, with multiple SUVs in convoys to make party-political points while demanding that the common citizen reduce their basic consumption. Ministers and officials will continue foreign travel, and no binding measures enforce work-from-home across public or private sectors. Modi himself has not curtailed high-profile international engagements or government extravagance.Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi advises to skip foreign travel… it should start from the top… here attached story on ministers prompted then PM Dr Manmohan Singh to write his ministers to curtail foreign travel expenses, and story on bureaucrats prompted Finance Ministry to… pic.twitter.com/aGMG3MoXZX— Shyamlal Yadav (@RTIExpress) May 11, 2026This approach, particularly seen with timing petrol and diesel retail prices with election timings has borne out the criticism that the government prioritises electoral cycles over consistent policy. It shifts responsibility to citizens for problems rooted in long-term fiscal and trade imbalances, rather than address root causes through structural reforms.Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said as much on X when he noted that “[t]hese aren’t sermons” but “proofs of failure” of the Modi government.“In 12 years, he’s brought the country to such a pass that the public has to be told what to buy, what not to buy, where to go, where not to go. Every time, they shift the responsibility onto the people so they can escape accountability themselves,” he said.This delay in acknowledging the gravity of the economic crisis India faces until the election results were declared proves that political survival takes precedence over economic prudence for Modi.Not only ‘external’Data on India’s economic indicators, from well before the US-Israel attack on Iran, shows deeper structural weaknesses that has pushed country to this situation. India’s dependence on imported crude oil has climbed from around 77.6% in 2014 to over 88.6% by 2026. Domestic crude and gas production have declined for multiple consecutive years, even as demand for fuel and refined products has risen.India’s strategic petroleum reserves were only partially filled by the Modi government. They held about 3.37 million tonnes out of 5.33 million tonnes capacity, or roughly 64% which provided only 10 days of cover during disruptions. This is well below the 90-day international benchmark for energy security.Unlike China, which is also dependent on imports, the Modi government left the Indian economy exposed to price shocks from the turmoil in West Asia. Modi is now asking citizens to reduce fuel consumption while ignoring the fact that his government never reduced pump prices when the crude was selling at a very low rate for years. The profits of those years should now be used to subsidise the Indian consumer, and a transparent breakdown of pricing of fuel, including ethanol, provided to the country. Thinktank GTRI has asked for any future petrol or diesel hike to be transparently and visibly connected to crude oil price paid for in global markets, “a public pricing model based on a formula.”Modi has now held office as prime minister for a dozen years and he must take responsibility for his policies and actions, rather than pinning everything on the crisis in West Asia. The rupee has been the “worst performing currency in Asia” for the past year and has declined sharply against the US dollar. It traded around 85-86 at the end of 2024 and reached near or above 90 in late 2025 before hovering around 94-95 in May 2026. This represents a depreciation of over 10% in recent periods, and a long-term slide from around 60 in 2014.This is the worst annual performance for the rupee since the early 2010s and reflects a combination of persistent foreign‑capital outflows, elevated crude prices, and a stronger dollar rather than a transient shock tied to West Asia alone. The currency’s slide raises the cost of nearly all imports, including oil, electronics and capital goods, and directly feeds into higher inflation and imported price pressures on households. But the weakness of the rupee, as demonstrated by massive outflows of FPIs from the share market and the poor net FDI record from India, precedes the decapitation strikes on Iran.The broader trade deficit has also ballooned. India recorded a merchandise trade deficit of about $ 282.8 billion in 2024–25, up from $ 241.1 billion in 2023–24. The overall trade gap, combining goods and services, has widened further in 2025–26, driven by imports that grow faster than exports. India’s trade deficit with China has grown significantly. It reached $ 116 billion in 2025-26, with imports far outpacing exports. This shows continued heavy reliance on Chinese goods for manufacturing and consumption inputs.Diplomacy nowhere to be seenModi’s foreign policy choices have not insulated India from regional risks. Closer alignment with partners like Israel and the UAE has led to reduced leverage in West Asia, where energy security matters most. The foreign policy of the Modi government has failed to secure long term energy contracts at stable prices or maintain deep strategic autonomy in a shifting global order. Disruptions affect imports through key routes, but domestic vulnerabilities amplify the impact. For example, Indian ships continue to be stuck at the Strait of Hormuz, after the first few were allowed by Tehran.These indicators point to accumulated economic mismanagement under Modi. A weaker currency, rising deficits, partial reserves, and uneven job growth have reduced policy space, where political accountability is being evaded and the burden being passed on to already suffering poor Indians.Modi’s timing of this appeal is drawing wide criticism online for being an act of political subterfuge. By framing austerity as a shared national sacrifice, he can deflect blame for the rupee’s slide and the widening external‑sector gap onto households and businesses rather than onto policy choices on fuel‑tax structure, import dependence and growth strategy.A responsible leader would be expected to front‑load measures to diversify energy sources, build strategic reserves, and create a roadmap for reducing oil‑intensity of growth, instead of waiting for an election‑year crisis and then urging citizens to cut fuel use and travel.