Amidst the ongoing tension in the Middle East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, on Monday (March 23, 2026). PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha that despite the ongoing war in Western Asia, India is secure in terms of energy and the country has strategic oil reserves of 53 lakh metric tonnes and our target is to increase it to 65 lakh metric tonnes. However, the Congress party termed PM Modi’s address as full of cowardice, self-praise and bias.
Jairam Ramesh shared the post on X platform
Congress Party’s Information Department General Secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a post in this regard on social media platform X. “The Prime Minister’s unusually short speech in the Lok Sabha today was, as usual, a masterclass of self-aggrandizement, cowardice and partisan dialogue,” he said in the post.
The Prime Minister’s uncharacteristically short speech in the Lok Sabha today was, as usual, a master class in self-boasts, cowardice, and partisan dialogue-baazi.
Not a single word was uttered in condemnation of the continued US-Israeli air assaults on Iran. Iran’s attack on…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 23, 2026
He said, ‘Not a single word was said to the Prime Minister in condemnation of the ongoing air strikes on Iran by America and Israel. Iran’s attack on the Gulf countries and the Strait of Hormuz is certainly completely unacceptable, but the continuous bombing of Iran with the aim of regime change and collapse of the state is equally unacceptable.
PM Modi just boasted in his speech: Jairam
The Congress leader said, ‘The Prime Minister continued to boast about India’s economic growth record. A few days ago, his own former Chief Economic Advisor had warned on record that India’s economic growth figures during PM Modi’s tenure have been greatly exaggerated. It seems that the Prime Minister probably believes that if he does not talk about this very credible and worrying report, then the issue will go away on its own.
Congress leader spoke on Prime Minister’s mention of Covid-19
Apart from this, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh expressed concern over PM Modi’s mention of the Covid-19 pandemic. He said, ‘The Prime Minister’s mention of the Covid-19 pandemic is worrying. His government’s response was unprecedentedly disastrous. The country cannot forget those extremely painful scenes which became common at that time. Lakhs of migrant laborers walking barefoot towards their homes, thousands of people dying due to lack of oxygen and lakhs of people becoming unemployed. We can only hope that this time there will be more preparation.
Also read: ‘India has oil reserves of 53 lakh metric tonnes’, what did PM Modi say in Parliament on the oil-LPG crisis?