The Congress on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his visit to Norway as well as the latest round of fuel price hike.

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said giving a free pass to industrialist Gautam Adani and “robbing” the common people is Mr. Modi’s “compromised model”. Mr. Kharge’s comments came after petrol and diesel prices were raised across the country by around 90 paise per litre, the second increase in less than a week.

His party colleague and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, wondered whether the Prime Minister’s personal request led to the Adani group being removed from a Norwegian wealth fund blacklist.

Mr. Gandhi’s remarks referred to the decision of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets estimated at $1.2 trillion which is managed by the Norges Bank, to exclude Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL) from its portfolio earlier this year over concerns relating to alleged financial wrongdoing. The bank had earlier, in May 2024, excluded Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone from its portfolio.

“We get very good information these days. Modiji, did Norway agree to your personal request to remove Adani from their pension fund blacklist?” Mr. Gandhi asked in a post on X, sharing an image of a report on the sovereign fund’s decision and Mr. Modi’s Norway visit — the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 43 years.

Amid the controversy involving a Norwegian journalist attempting to ask a question to Mr. Modi after a joint briefing with the Norwegian Prime Minister, Mr. Gandhi put up a separate post. “When there is nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear. What happens to India’s image when the world sees a compromised PM panic and run from a few questions?”

Mr. Kharge widened the attack by linking the Adani issue to the latest fuel price hike, accusing the government of being engrossed in elections and giving false assurances when the crisis had first erupted.

“Robbing the common people and giving Adani a free pass from America — this is Modiji’s compromised model,” the Congress chief alleged in a post, referring to the reported decision of the U.S. Department of Justice to drop criminal charges against Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.

The Congress president said the BJP-led government lacked “foresight and leadership” and asked why common people were being burdened with fuel price increases if oil imports were continuing from Russia.

“Modiji, who fills the air with false pride about being the ‘vishwaguru’, has begged and pleaded with America for a one month extension on ‘permission’ to buy Russian oil. Every time he does this, he hurts the pride of 1.4 billion Indians,” Mr. Kharge said.

“Just four days after the price hike, the Modi government has once again increased the prices of petrol and diesel. Having set the stage, preaching about savings, efforts are in full swing to shift the burden of their failures onto the public,” he added.