Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday questioned the Centre over recent public appeals made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking citizens to reduce fuel consumption, limit foreign travel, avoid foreign goods and cut down on purchases of gold, saying such measures indicate concern over the country’s economic condition.
Addressing a press conference along with Saurabh Bharadwaj, the AAP chief said the government should disclose the actual state of the economy and explain why such appeals are being made.
He said citizens would be willing to make sacrifices if required, but added that transparency from the government was necessary to maintain public confidence.
Kejriwal said India had faced several economic and wartime challenges since Independence, but claimed that no previous Prime Minister had asked citizens to simultaneously adopt multiple austerity-related measures of this nature.
Referring to the ongoing impact of the Iran-US conflict on global markets, he said countries across the world were facing economic pressure, but questioned why India alone was appealing for what he described as “extreme steps.”
He also criticised what he termed as the unequal burden of such measures on the middle class.
According to Kejriwal, the government, ministers, bureaucrats and wealthy industrialists should also reduce expenditure if the country is indeed facing a severe economic situation.
The former Delhi Chief Minister further said that people he had interacted with over the past two days expressed willingness to support the country during difficult times, but questioned why the appeals appeared to target mainly the middle class.
Kejriwal urged the Prime Minister to provide a detailed explanation to the public regarding the present economic situation and any possible challenges the country could face in the coming months.
