If there is something called poetic injustice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government may soon experience some soon. While he got away with some of the risky economic decisions he took to stay politically strong, the coming weeks and months may see his administration challenged by something he had nothing to do with: the Russia-Ukraine war.
While the price of oil, as the cliche goes, is on the boil, the timing of the fuel price shock could not have come at a worse time. But before that, there is a plain fact to be acknowledged.
The BJP-led government has enjoyed a seven-year-long honeymoon in oil prices that gave sufficient elbow room for the economy to chug along—and for the government to take some bold decisions, two of which did not work (demonetisation of high—value currency notes and the controversial farm laws) and one that paid handsome revenue dividends (the goods and services tax, GST).