Image credit: Santosh Gupta

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra MLA from NCP (SP) rode a horse straight into the municipal corporation headquarters as a mark of protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to the people to use less fuel amid the Middle East crisis.MLA Jitendra Awhad along with several leaders and workers of the party staged the unusual protest in Thane, travelling on horses and bullock carts to symbolically “save fuel”.Local leaders of the party, including Thane city president Manoj Pradhan and opposition members, also participated in the agitation.PM Modi on Monday called upon the citizens to prioritize work-from-home, reduce foreign travels in a bid to save fuel after US-Israel initiated war on Iran has choked the oil supplies globally.“Wherever possible, utilise the Metro and public transportation; opt for carpooling; prioritise railways as a mode of transportation for goods; and wherever feasible, increase the usage of electric vehicles. Let us all come together and make every possible effort to conserve energy in our daily lives, so that the economic burden currently weighing upon the nation may be alleviated,” PM Modi had said.NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule demanded clarification from the government over Indian economy’s health. “In view of the seriousness of this issue, the Prime Minister should convene an all-party meeting under his own chairmanship. Taking all party leaders into confidence on matters of national interest and conducting the decision-making process is absolutely essential for the good of the country,” she said in a post on X.