Congress leaders have accused the ruling BJP of double standards, as before 2014, saffron party leaders had flayed the UPA government over the plunging rupee. Now, Congress is returning the favour.
As the rupee edged closer to the historic low of 80-mark against the US dollar, the Opposition led by the Congress has unleashed a fusillade of tweets and taunts against the Centre for failing to keep the currency in check.
Congress leaders have taken to social media to accuse the ruling BJP of double standards, as before 2014, Narendra Modi and other saffron party leaders had flayed the UPA government over the plunging rupee. Now, the Congress is returning the favour.
Former party chief Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, “Rupee at 40 : ‘Refreshing’. At 50 : ‘India in crisis’. At 60 : ICU. At 70 : Atmanirbhar. At 80 : Amritkaal.”
Taking a dig at the BJP-led Centre and PM Modi, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said the government is losing all credibility because of its inability to curb the rupee’s free fall. “Now the Rupee has crossed the age of Margdarshak Mandal. How much will it fall further. How much further will the government’s credibility fall. Wah Modi ji,” Surjewala tweeted using the hashtag “#FallingRupeeDestroyingEconomy”.
The “Margdarshak Mandal” is a group of mentors comprising BJP veterans.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday noted that the UPA government in 2013 brought back the value of the rupee from 69 to 58 against the US dollar within four months. He said all this was part of recent history which is “anathema” to the BJP government.
At the AICC Press Briefing today, the spokesperson recalled that in 2013 (when the taper tantrum hit emerging markets) there was a UPA government. That the UPA government brought back the value of the rupee from Rs 69 to a $ to Rs 58 within 4 months. And that the GDP growth rate increased from 5.1% in 2012-13 to 6.9% in 2013-14.”
“All of the above is recent history which is anathema to the BJP government,” Chidambaram said.
In another tweet on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said, “’The country is in the throes of despair’, these are your own words, aren’t they, Prime Minister ji? As much noise you used to make at that time, today you are as ‘maun’ (silent) seeing the Rupee depreciating rapidly,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate wondered what the prime minister would say on his own statements now when the Indian currency is falling to new lows.
WHAT PM MODI SAID IN THE PAST
While serving as the chief minister of Gujarat, PM Narendra Modi had targeted the UPA government whenever the rupee fell in value against the greenback. On one occasion, he said, “The prestige of the PM is attached to the falling rupee and the lower it falls, the more credibility and dignity of the prime minister is eroded”.
In July 2013, PM Modi said in a tweet, “UPA Government and the Rupee seem to be in a competition with each other on who will tumble down more.”
Later in August that year, PM Modi took aim at then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the falling domestic currency, saying, “There was a time when Indian rupee was making lots of noise. But today it has lost its voice. And similarly we are unable to hear the voice of our Prime Minister. Both have turned mute.”
WHAT THE FINANCE MINISTER SAID
Meanwhile, the BJP government has underplayed the devaluation of the currency against the dollar and blamed macroeconomic factors for the rupee’s downward slide.
Earlier this month, when the rupee plunged to an all-new low record of 79.1187 against the US currency, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The government is constantly in touch with the RBI on the exchange rate.”
Acknowledging the fact that a weaker currency leads to higher import costs, Sitharaman asserted that the rupee’s performance against the US dollar is better than that of many other global currencies despite the depreciation in recent months.
“We are relatively better placed. We are not a closed economy. We are part of the globalised world. So, we will be impacted (by global developments),” she said.
