Madhya Pradesh BJP leader under fire for travelling with 50-car convoy day after PM Modi's save fuel appeal
PTC News Desk: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the citizens to reduce fuel consumption and adopt other covid-era like measures amid global energy crisis, a BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh came received backlash for travelling with a massive convoy of vehicles.
Saubhagya Singh Thakur, newly appointed chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Textbook Corporation, travelled from Ujjain to Bhopal accompanied by SUVs and supporter vehicles as he headed to take charge of his new post.
“We got into work-from-home, virtual meetings and video conferencing during COVID-19. The need of the hour is to resume those methods,” PM Modi had said while calling for economic restraint and conservation of foreign exchange.
Video footage showed the convoy stretching across the highway, with supporters stopping at several places to welcome Thakur. These repeated stops reportedly caused traffic disruptions and inconvenience for commuters at many points.
The visuals drew attention because they surfaced just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to citizens to cut down on petrol and diesel consumption due to the ongoing crisis in West Asia and its possible impact on India’s economy.
Speaking at a BJP rally in Telangana on Sunday, Modi had urged people to avoid unnecessary fuel usage, prefer public transport and metro services, adopt carpooling, and increasingly use electric vehicles. He also advised citizens to avoid non-essential foreign travel and discretionary spending, including gold purchases, while encouraging the use of Swadeshi products and natural farming.
However, the BJP leader’s large convoy has raised questions over whether leaders within the party are following the Prime Minister’s own message on fuel conservation and restraint.
The issue has now turned into a larger political controversy, with the Congress accusing the government of failure and claiming that the Prime Minister’s appeal for public sacrifice reflects shortcomings in governance.
- With inputs from agencies
