Kharge Calls Out Modi’s “Compromised Model”, Petrol & Diesel Hiked Again in Just Four Days

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge blasts the Modi government after state-run oil companies raise petrol and diesel prices for the second time in under a week accusing the Centre of looting ordinary citizens while shielding corporate interests and begging the US for permission to buy Russian crude.

Second Fuel Hike in Days Sparks Congress Fury

Barely four days had passed since the last jolt at the fuel pump and Indians woke up Tuesday to yet another blow. State-run oil marketing companies pushed petrol and diesel prices up by roughly 90 paise per litre, the second hike in less than a week. The move came shortly after these companies ended a near-four-year freeze on fuel price revisions. Unsurprisingly, the opposition was not willing to stay quiet.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge came out swinging hard. He called the repeated hikes a deliberate strategy to squeeze the common man while quietly letting powerful corporate friends walk free. He took to X to say what a large section of the public was already feeling.

Kharge Fires Directly at Modi’s “Compromised Model”

“Just four days after the price hike, the Modi government has once again increased the prices of petrol and diesel. Having set the full stage, preaching about savings while shifting the burden of their failures onto the public this effort is in full swing,” he wrote. He then went further naming names and making the political attack deeply personal.

“Robbing the common people and giving Adani a free pass from America this is Modi ji’s Compromised Model,” Kharge alleged. The remark landed like a thunderclap linking the fuel price hike directly to the US Department of Justice’s decision to permanently drop all criminal charges against industrialist Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar. Kharge suggested that the timing was no coincidence.

The Russian Oil Question And Why It Stings

Kharge then pivoted to a charge that cut even deeper. He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over India’s dependence on Russian crude oil and the country’s need to seek Washington’s approval to keep buying it.

“Modi ji who fills the air with false pride about being the ‘Vishwa Guru’ has begged and pleaded with America for a one-month extension on ‘permission’ to buy Russian oil. Every time he does this, he wounds the self-respect of 1.4 billion Indians. No previous government has ever stooped to this level,” Kharge said.

A temporary US sanctions waiver first issued by the US Treasury in mid-March and extended in April had allowed the sale and delivery of Russian seaborne crude. That waiver expired on May 16. It was the second time Washington let the relief lapse without clear guidance on any extension.

If We Have “Permission,” Why Are Prices Still Rising?

The Congress chief did not stop there. He posed a sharp question that the government has yet to answer clearly. “Now the question is if, according to the government, we’ve been ‘allowed’ to do this, then why burden the common people with the weight of petrol and diesel price hikes?” he asked.

He followed it with a broader accusation about the BJP’s governance track record. “I repeat once again there is a lack of foresight and leadership in the BJP,” he said.

“Busy With Elections, Now Running From Real Questions”

Kharge then delivered what many considered the sharpest blow of his statement. He accused BJP leaders of being distracted by state assembly elections while the fuel crisis was quietly deepening beneath the surface.

“When the crisis hit, they were busy with elections then they spun slick, slippery words to devise a plan for the loot and in the meantime, got their dearest friend off the hook too!” he claimed. The comment was a clear swipe at both the government’s political priorities and its handling of the Adani case in the US.

“Sponsored PR Won’t Make You a Vishwa Guru”

Kharge also took a pointed dig at what he called the Prime Minister’s habit of chasing global optics over domestic accountability. “You don’t become a ‘Vishwa Guru’ just by doing sponsored PR abroad. Modi ji, you have to ensure accountability to the people,” he said.

He ended with a line that struck a populist chord mocking the PM’s recent media appearances and interviews. “Don’t run from the real questions. The public has no interest in trivialities such as ‘how you eat your mangoes’ or ‘which tonic you consume,'” Kharge said.

He then issued what amounted to a challenge. “If you respond by saying what you’re actually doing about the crisis only then will you be called the people’s true ‘Pradhan Sevak.’ Otherwise, you’ll remain nothing more than a mere ‘Pracharak,'” the Congress president said.