New Delhi: With the Indian rupee falling to an all-time low, the Congress Monday shot a barb at the Modi government, saying the Indian legal tender is in the “ICU”.
In a sharply-worded Facebook post, Rahul Gandhi said the prime minister cannot keep the economic and social realities of India “hidden forever”.
He later took to Twitter to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi about how he had criticised his predecessor Manmohan Singh over the fall in rupee, and added a falling rupee is good for boosting exports if exporters get support in terms of capital.
Gandhi asked Modi to acknowledge the economic crisis and start working towards providing solutions instead of offering “PR distractions”.
Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Indian rupee has fallen to its nadir of Rs 77.41 to a US dollar, something which never happened in the last 75 years.
“Under the Modi Government, Indian rupee is in ICU. Under the Modi Government Indian rupee has crossed the age of ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ of BJP. Under the Modi Government Indian rupee has fallen even beyond the age of Prime Minister and what are the reasons for the same,” Surjewala tweeted.
The ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ refers to a group of very senior BJP leaders including former BJP presidents L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi that was formed to guide the party soon after Modi became the prime minister. Their inclusion in the Margdarshak Mandal was seen as an attempt by the new BJP leadership to effectively keep them out of decision making.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also tweeted, “Rupee has hit an all-time low against USD. CM Modi would have slammed the government and called it anti-national. PM Modi is Silent!.”
Gandhi said in a Facebook post: “The Rupee has fallen to an all-time low of Rs 77.4 to a (USD) dollar. The Prime Minister has already achieved his target of Rs 100+ in petrol and diesel, and Rs 1000 in LPG. Now it’s the rupee’s turn to march towards 100 (against the US dollar).”
“India is in the middle of a huge economic crisis, which will worsen further and turn into something Indians have never witnessed before. The PM cannot keep the economic and social realities of India hidden forever,” he said, adding “It is time he acknowledges the situation and starts working towards solutions, instead of just offering PR distractions.” Gandhi used the hashtag “#BJPFailsIndia”.
Soon thereafter, Gandhi said on Twitter that unlike Modi, who used to slam Manmohan Singh over a falling rupee, he won’t criticise him blindly.
“Now ? is at its lowest ever value. But I won’t criticise you blindly. A falling ? is good for exports provided we support exporters with capital and help create jobs. Focus on managing our economy, not media headlines,” Gandhi said in a series of tweets.
Surjewala said the slump in the Indian currency has happened due to apparent reasons, including the runaway inflation. Claiming that life has become unbearable and expensive, he said whether it is petrol, diesel, cooking gas, CNG-PNG, or eatables, everything has gone beyond the reach of the common man.
Surjewala said there is “immeasurable” flight of capital from India because of the “BJP-sponsored communal tension, rampant corruption in BJP-ruled states, and the insurmountable debt of the Government of India and the states”. He said because of these investor confidence has gone down and the cost of doing business has has gone up manifold.
The Congress leader said the depletion of foreign exchange reserves, from USD 604 billion to 536 billion, is a matter of concern.
Only in one fortnight, the foreign exchange reserves have depleted by nearly 31 billion US dollars, he claimed.
“How will the economy of the country sustain itself, when the government is sponsoring communal divide, polarization and tension, and atmosphere of hate? Why should anybody invest here? And that’s why the flight of capital is happening, foreign exchange reserves are going down and runaway inflation is hitting every aspect of our economy,” he said.
The rupee extended its losses and slumped 60 paise to close at a record low of 77.50 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, pressured by the strength of the American currency overseas and unabated foreign fund outflows.
PTI