'Rupee on ventilator': Kharge chides PM Modi on falling value of Indian currency

New Delhi: Congress president and the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge today chided Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the falling value of the rupee against the dollar, saying it was on the `ventilator’.

Speaking during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha today, Kharge cornered and confronted the NDA government on the sorry state of affairs, particularly with the farmers’ distress and rising unemployment and its (government’s) failure to address these issues.

Congress president reminded Modi that while he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, the Congress-led UPA government was in power at the center, and the value of the rupee against the dollar had fallen to 60, he (Modi) had remarked that the rupee was in the ICU. Now, while referring to the value of the rupee falling to 87 against the dollar, Kharge remarked, that it is on a ventilator.

Taking a dig at the `Amritkal’ claims of the government, he said, it was the `Vishkal’.

Referring to the widespread problem of unemployment in the country, he said, forty lakh vacancies were pending in various government departments. He accused the Modi government of deliberately not filling up these vacancies, as it did not want to provide jobs under reservation to the reserved categories.

Leader of the Opposition maintained that the government had handed over various public sector undertakings, which generated a lot of jobs to a select few friends of the Prime Minister.

Accusing the government of reneging and backing out of its promises, he pointed out, that Prime Minister Modi had promised to provide two crore jobs in the country every year. By now, he pointed out, there should have been 22 crore jobs, which is not the case.

Similarly referring to the plight of farmers, Kharge said, there was no MSP guarantee. He said that farmers were under distress and about one lakh farmers had committed suicide during the last ten years.

He said, this government had not done anything for the poor and the labourers and was focused on helping only a few rich friends of the Prime Minister.

Blasting the claims of the government on ‘sab ka sath, sabka vikas’, Kharge said, this government has guaranteed only the progress of a few friends of Modi and was helping Ambani and Adani day in and day out.