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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent 'seven appeals' urging people to reduce expenditure and asked why such appeals were being made to citizens.
Speaking to ANI, Annadurai said the Prime Minister should explain the reasons behind the appeal and whether the country was heading towards a worsening situation. "Why is the Prime Minister making these demands from the Indian citizens? Is it because he has information that the situation is going to get very worse?" Annadurai asked. The DMK leader also questioned the Prime Minister's campaigning during the elections, saying, "Until the elections, the Prime Minister was touring the entire country in his jet, having cavalcades of cars." Annadurai further asked why opposition parties were not consulted if the situation was serious enough to affect people's daily lives. "If it is such a big event, which is going to disrupt the normal lives of the Indians, why are the opposition parties not taken into confidence?... The Prime Minister has to explain to this country why he is making such a demand," the DMK spokesperson further asked. He also referred to the Prime Minister's upcoming foreign visits while commenting on the appeal to avoid unnecessary travel. "He says, 'Avoid foreign trips.' But on May 15, he is scheduled to go to the UAE, Netherlands, and Sweden, for what?" Annadurai added. (ANI) The remarks came a day after Prime Minister Modi, while addressing a gathering in Secunderabad, urged citizens to reduce dependence on imports and adopt responsible consumption habits to strengthen the economy amid global supply chain disruptions and rising costs caused by international conflicts. The Prime Minister appealed to citizens to reduce edible oil consumption, use public transport, prefer car-pooling, adopt electric vehicles, and move towards natural farming practices to reduce the country's import burden and conserve foreign exchange. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also criticised the Prime Minister's appeals, terming them "proofs of failure" rather than "sermons." In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi accused the government of shifting responsibility onto citizens while attempting to avoid accountability for inflation and economic pressures. Prime Minister Modi, however, described the appeals as part of a broader effort towards "economic self-defence" and responsible patriotism during a period of global uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions. (ANI)
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