New Delhi, March 12 Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that India's energy security has been "compromised" due to a "flawed" foreign policy, and that the government has "bartered" the right to determine relationships with different oil suppliers to the US.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said the ongoing war between the US, Israel, and Iran will have far-reaching consequences.
"The Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 20% of global oil flow, has been closed, and this will have tremendous repercussions, particularly for us because a large portion of our oil and natural gas comes through this strait," Gandhi said.
"The situation is just beginning – restaurants are closing, there is widespread panic about LPG, street vendors are affected, and this is only the beginning," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi asserted that energy security is the foundation of every nation.
"I am not saying this lightly, but allowing the US to decide who we buy oil and gas from, whether we buy oil from Russia or not, and whether our relationship with different oil suppliers can be decided by us, is what has been bartered," the Congress leader said.
"This is a very puzzling fact – why a nation the size of India would allow the president of any other nation to give us permission to buy Russian oil, or to decide who our relationships are with," the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) said, seemingly referring to the US granting a 30-day waiver to buy oil from Russia.
"This is a puzzle, and I have been trying to figure it out. I have figured it out," Gandhi said.
"The puzzle is about compromise," he said, referring to Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri.
Gandhi then sought to link the issue of India's energy security with disclosures by the US Department of Justice. This prompted uproar from the treasury benches.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked Gandhi to speak on the notice he had given and not deviate to other topics.
With Gandhi repeatedly asserting that what he was saying was connected to energy security, Birla asked Puri to make his statement.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju criticized Gandhi for speaking in the Lok Sabha on "various other issues" instead of concerns about the reported LPG shortage. After Gandhi's speech in the House, Rijiju told reporters that the Congress had not learned any lesson after the two-day discussion on the no-confidence motion against Speaker Birla.
The minister said Gandhi had submitted a letter to the speaker requesting to discuss the reported LPG shortage. Subsequently, the petroleum minister was asked to prepare a response, he said.
Rijiju alleged that when Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was giving a statement, Gandhi "again sent all his MPs to the well".
Meanwhile, speaking in the Lok Sabha, BJP member Nishikant Dubey claimed that Gandhi held a picnic near Makar Dwar by having tea and coffee with MPs, violating the directives of the speaker.
Earlier, speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi alleged that India's energy security has been compromised due to a "flawed" foreign policy.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government must prepare in advance. If not, crores will suffer in the future, he said amid reports of LPG shortages.
Gandhi alleged that PM Modi is unable to function as the prime minister of India as "he is trapped". But he still needs to make sure that the people of India are protected and "our energy security is managed by us," he told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Basically, gas and fuel are going to be a problem because "our energy security has been compromised," Gandhi said.
"A flawed foreign policy has created this problem. Now, what we have to do is to prepare. You have some time," he said.
Gandhi said the government and the prime minister must immediately start preparations because otherwise, crores of people will suffer massive losses.
"It is a bigger issue than Iran allowing oil and not allowing oil. This war is fundamentally about the current world order... We are going into an unstable time. When you are going into an unstable time, you have to change your mindset," Gandhi said.
The LoP said he is suggesting to the government that it must start thinking deeply about the possibilities and what India can do to make sure its people are not harmed.
"I am not making any political statement. I am just saying that I can see that a big problem is coming, and if this is resolved at the level of Iran, then this problem will not go away because the world is changing, its structure is changing, and we have to change our mindset," Gandhi said.
"The prime minister is not able to function as the PM of India. There is a reason for it. He is trapped. Anyway, he still needs to make sure that the people of India are protected," he said.
After participating in an opposition protest over reported LPG shortages in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi attacked Modi, saying the PM is asking the people not to panic but is himself panicking for "completely different reasons".
He alleged that Modi is panicking because of the Epstein files issue and the Adani case in the US.
