Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his appeal to people to postpone foreign travel while continuing his own overseas visits.
Amid the crisis in West Asia, PM Modi has urged people to use fuel carefully, delay gold purchases, and avoid foreign travel. He also encouraged the use of metro services in cities, carpooling, electric vehicles, and work from home to save foreign exchange.
Talking to mediapersons in Chandigarh, Mann said, “First the Prime Minister should stop his foreign visits. Where is he now? He has gone to the Netherlands. He will visit 3-4 more countries. He has asked people to avoid foreign travel but he still goes abroad.”
“You are shutting down everything — don’t buy gold, don’t travel abroad, work from home. Why doesn’t the PM work from home?” Mann said while responding to a question on the Prime Minister’s appeal. The Punjab Chief Minister also criticised the BJP-led Centre over rising petrol and diesel prices.
“We were supposed to become ‘vishwaguru’ but we have become ‘vishwachele’. The war is happening somewhere else but restrictions are being imposed here. Why has no other country implemented such restrictions?” he asked.
Petrol and diesel prices were increased by Rs 3 per litre each on Friday. This is the first hike in over four years. It comes amid rising losses for fuel retailers due to high global crude prices.
After his appeal, Modi has reduced the size of his convoy. Several BJP Chief Ministers and leaders have also followed similar steps. The Prime Minister has left for a six-day foreign tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy to strengthen bilateral ties amid global geopolitical tensions.
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