Summary of this article
Narendra Modi has reportedly reduced the size of his convoy during recent visits to Gujarat and Assam after urging citizens to cut fuel consumption.
Sources said the changes were made within SPG security protocol, while Modi also asked for electric vehicles to be included in the convoy wherever possible.
Opposition leaders in Maharashtra urged Devendra Fadnavis and ministers to follow the PM’s austerity call by reducing large official convoys.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has significantly reduced his convoy size, days after he made an appeal for austerity and urged citizens to curb the use of fuel-driven vehicles.
According to official sources, the prime minister's convoy was reduced on his recent domestic visits.
In accordance with SPG protocol, the reduction was carried out while preserving crucial security elements.
Modi's convoy size was cut in Gujarat and Assam, immediately after his speech in Hyderabad.
Sources said the prime minister also asked for electric vehicles to be included in his convoy, where possible, without making new purchases.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra's opposition parties called on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to follow Prime Minister Modi's call for austerity by using a single car rather than convoys.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil, in a statement, said that while the country's middle class had consistently responded to PM Modi's appeals in the past and would also support the latest call for restraint, those in power should also adopt similar measures.
"What about ministers who travel in convoys of 20 to 30 vehicles?" he asked.
He appealed to Fadnavis to "treat the prime minister's directive as an order", saying that the government should set an example by reducing the convoys of the chief minister and ministers to a single vehicle accompanied by one security guard.
"The middle class is always ready to make sacrifices, but those in power must also put the principle of 'Nation First' into practice," he said.
