Falling value of rupee shows country’s real economic situation: Kharge
Currency slide exposes gap between government’s growth claims and economic reality, says Congress chief
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday sharpened his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, using the dramatic slide of the rupee past the 90-mark against the US dollar as a moment to revisit the prime minister’s own past rhetoric.
As the currency dipped to a historic low of 90.43 in early trade — a symbolic threshold that sent ripples through markets — Kharge invoked Modi’s words from his Gujarat days, when he had publicly demanded accountability from the UPA government for every dip in the rupee’s value.
In a pointed post in Hindi on X, Kharge wrote, “The rupee has crossed 90 today. No matter how loudly the government beats its drum, the falling rupee reveals the country’s true economic health. If the Modi government’s policies were sound, the rupee would not be in free fall.”
He followed with a sharp reminder: “Before 2014, Modi ji asked why the rupee was getting patla. Today, the country is asking him the very same question — and he must answer.”
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament earlier in the day, the Congress chief said the currency slide lays bare the gap between the government’s claims of strong growth and the economic reality felt on the ground. “They keep saying the economy is strong, but a sinking rupee tells the real story,” he remarked.
Market watchers attributed the rupee’s decline to restrained RBI intervention ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision, along with heavy dollar demand from importers — forces that have kept unrelenting downward pressure on the currency.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 90.36 and swiftly weakened to its new record of 90.43. The fall follows Wednesday’s breach of the 90-per-dollar barrier for the first time, when it closed at 90.15.
As India’s currency presses into uncharted lows, the political and economic narratives around it continue to sharpen — with Kharge turning the slide into a pointed commentary on governance, credibility and accountability.
With PTI inputs