Soon after Italy’s Prime Minister posted a video clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifting her a bag of Melody toffees in Rome, Opposition parties Wednesday criticised Modi, saying he was busy “making reels” abroad when the country was reeling under an “economic storm”.
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, in a post on X, said “An economic storm is raging over our heads, and our Prime Minister is busy handing out candies in Italy. Farmers, youth, women, labourers, and small traders are all in tears – the PM is laughing and making reels, while the BJP folks are clapping along. This isn’t leadership, it’s a farce.”
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Speaking in Rae Bareli, Gandhi said the Prime Minister asked people to use less petrol, not buy gold, spend less and avoid travelling abroad. “But just a day later, Narendra Modi boarded an aircraft worth Rs 3,000-4,000 crore and went to Italy carrying toffees in his pocket… Look at the kind of mockery being made of the people of this country.”
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“Remember this, Narendra Modi will cry and again say it is not his fault, just as he did during demonetisation and Covid,” he said, warning about an “economic storm”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, attacked Modi over rising prices, unemployment, exam paper leaks, “dampening” investment and the “sinking” rupee.
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He said “every aspect of the economy is suffering” but “Modi ji continues his PR, lecturing citizens to shoulder the burden of this grave economic storm”.
“Modi ji wants the public to enjoy the ‘melody’ of speeches while surviving the ‘misery’ of his government’s loot,” Kharge said. He alleged that in the last 11 years under the Modi government, the average debt per Indian increased “11-fold” while “the wealth of 229 tycoons, along with 26 newly added billionaires, has reportedly crossed Rs 97.50 lakh crore”.
The price of domestic LPG, he said, “skyrocketed by 121 per cent, exploding from Rs 414 in 2014 to Rs 915.5 in 2026.” Commercial cylinder prices, he said, were “ruthlessly hiked by nearly 154 per cent, from Rs 1,241 to Rs 3,152.”
“CNG, milk, bread, medicines – every price is skyrocketing. Over 12 years, more than Rs 43 lakh crore has been extracted from citizens through brutal petrol taxes and central excise duties,” Kharge said.
TMC Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose said the optics of the gift and the video were “unfortunate”. “The head of state indulging in such acts is inappropriate. While the rupee’s value is going down, the PM is doing all this. It shows a lack of empathy and disconnect from the issues of the people,” she said.
CPI Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar said, “Perhaps this is the new model of diplomacy: Hand over the country to billionaires at home, distribute chocolates overseas while getting unfair deals, and expect the cameras to do the rest. While unemployment, inflation and inequality keep rising, the government seems more invested in meme diplomacy than people’s lives. ‘Melodi’ may trend online, but crores of Indians are suffering because of Modi’s failures.”