BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
After the U.S. announced that it is issuing a 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil, the BJP on Friday (March 6, 2026) termed the development a success of the “strategic oil diplomacy” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said it’s a “big egg on the face of anti-India Rahul Gandhi and the Congress”.
The BJP also accused the Congress and Mr. Gandhi of creating panic by spreading “fake news on oil shortage”.
“Rahul Gandhi and Congress hate seeing India act with strategic restraint and strategic clarity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said in a post on X.
Amid the escalating conflict with Iran, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday (March 5, 2026), “President (Donald) Trump’s energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil.”
“India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of U.S. oil. This stop-gap measure will alleviate the pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” Mr. Bessent said in a post on X.
This “deliberately short-term measure” will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, as it only authorises transactions involving oil already stranded at sea, Mr. Bessent said.
Welcoming the development, Mr. Bhandari said, “A big egg on the face of anti-India Rahul Gandhi and Congress, which wanted to create panic by spreading fake news on ‘oil shortage’!” “Yet again India’s strategic oil diplomacy under PM Narendra Modi succeeds!” the BJP spokesperson added.
Mr. Bhandari also lashed out at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for his comments on the U.S. waiver, and said the main Opposition party’s “conspiracy” to provoke India to make a mistake will not succeed.
Taking a swipe at the Modi government after the U.S. announced the temporary waiver, the Congress asked till when this “American blackmail” will continue.
In a post in rhyming in Hindi on X, Mr. Ramesh said, “Trump ka naya khel, Dilli dost ko kaha, Putin se le sakte ho tel, kab tak chalega ye Ameriki blackmail? (Trump’s new game; told his friend in Delhi you can take oil from Putin; how long will this American blackmail continue?).” Hitting back, Mr. Bhandari asked Ramesh to stop spreading “fake news”.
“You have a history of selling sovereignty. That’s what Gandhi-Vadra and compromised Congress did for 70 years,” the BJP spokesperson said in a separate X post.
“Facts: India has been buying Russian oil; there has been no disruption! You should answer why in 2013 you begged the United States for an exception to sanctions for the purchase of Iranian oil,” Mr. Bhandari added.
Published – March 06, 2026 06:35 pm IST
