New Delhi/Mumbai: On Sunday, May 10, after the assembly elections were over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Indians to embrace Covid-era restraint amid economic pressures from the West Asia conflict. He urged reduced petrol and diesel use, work-from-home where possible, virtual meetings, postponed foreign travel and gold purchases for a year, and greater reliance on domestic products to conserve foreign exchange.But Modi’s own schedule that day highlighted a gap between his appeals for collective sacrifice and the logistics of his extravagant political and ceremonial activities.Modi began the day in Bengaluru, participating in events including the 45th anniversary celebrations of The Art of Living. He then flew to Hyderabad, arriving at Begumpet Airport around 2:20 pm. Shortly after, he proceeded with project launches and foundation stone-laying ceremonies, covering roads, railways, petroleum terminals, textiles and industrial areas. None of these events were essential to governance that needed his physical presence and could not have been conducted virtually from his office in New Delhi.He then travelled by helicopter to HITEC City to inaugurate Sindhu Hospital, a large private, not-for-profit multi-super-specialty facility, promoted by Rajya Sabha member and Hetero Group founder Bandi Parthasaradhi Reddy. Modi interacted with the founder’s family during the event.Later in the day, Modi addressed a BJP public meeting at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad, where he delivered the austerity message to a mobilised crowd. He departed Hyderabad for Jamnagar, Gujarat, around 7 pm. He addressed another public meeting there.Modi’s day involved multiple flights, a helicopter transfer in a major city, extensive ground movements with standard high-security arrangements and a major public rally requiring significant local mobilisation by the party. All these activities were inconsistent with the fuel-saving and reduced-movement ethos he promoted to other ordinary citizens.On Monday, May 11, a day after asking others to maintain austerity, Modi continued his expensive high-flyer schedule, departing Gujarat’s Jamnagar early and proceeding to Somnath Temple for a ceremony. He will participate in darshan, puja and public events, including a roadshow in Gir Somnath district, before flying to Vadodara in the evening to inaugurate the Sardardham Hostel around 6 pm and address local gatherings.On Tuesday, May 12, Modi is scheduled to fly to Guwahati to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the new government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma. Reports around the ceremony’s grandeur show that Modi’s advice has had few takers within his own party – Assam BJP chief Dilip Saikia has announced that an estimated one lakh people are likely to attend the event from across the state, as per a report in the Deccan Herald. Saikia, according to the report, said the ceremony was going to be a “spectacular event”. Along with Modi, chief ministers of various BJP-ruled states are also expected to fly in, according to news reports.This will involve additional air travel, road convoys, security arrangements and large public mobilisations activities that stand in contrast to his previous day’s calls for citizens to minimise fuel use, avoid non-essential travel and opt for virtual engagements. The contrast is stark: Modi asked middle-class families to skip foreign holidays, delay weddings’ gold purchases, cut private vehicle use and revive remote work, while his own itinerary relied on extensive air and helicopter travel and drew large in-person crowds.Modi’s personal and official lifestyle has long featured extensive domestic and international travel, large convoys and carefully orchestrated public events. While security and protocol demand resources, the optics of lecturing citizens on frugality from a platform enabled by significant state and party resources invite scrutiny.In the last one week alone, Modi has held five roadshows and has participated in various political programmes involving significant cost and resources: on May 7, he was at the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-appointed ministers in the Bihar government, including Nishant Kumar, the son of former chief minister Nitish Kumar. On the same day, he also held a roadshow in Patna. Following this, on May 9, he travelled to Kolkata to participate in the oath-taking ceremony of the West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari and five other ministers in his cabinet, where he also conducted a roadshow. Since then, he has held three roadshows – in Hyderabad, Jamnagar and Somnath.As India navigates economic mismanagement compounded by an external shock, consistency between leadership example and public prescription matters for credibility. Modi’s message for ordinary citizens to tighten their belts on May 10 was clear, but with his routine that day, and continuing into May 11 with further temple events, roadshows and inaugurations across Gujarat, the contrast between words and deeds could hardly be more glaring.