Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s patriotic call to austerity, exhorting citizens to use less fuel, buy less gold, and postpone foreign trips, among other things, has come just as the dust settles after elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. He is about to embark on another international tour.

Public memory may be short, but the PM’s appeal brings to mind the long convoys and special aircraft crisscrossing these states carrying political personages. Thoughts of frugal fuel use were distant until recently. The Union government even assured the country in March that 70% of crude imports were routed away from the Strait of Hormuz, and energy supply was secure; India also has significant refining capacity to meet its needs.

But then,........

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