The economy of a country, tells a lot about the financial, educational, and lifestyle structures of its residents. India currently is the 5th largest economy in the world but also among the developing countries of the world. The falling value of the Indian Currency – Rupees against the Dollar is a concern of every Indian.
India being the world’s largest democracy has a very interesting aspect to it, and is its politics. Indian politics is like a sea with millions of creatures with another million habits and a billion opinions. The fun part is that even a person with zero knowledge of the topic will have some opinion to offer. Also, the opinions come with an expiry date as they change with trends and personal agendas.
All Time Low Rupee
After a fall of 38 paise on the morning of 10th October, 2022 rupee reached an all-time low of 83 against the dollar. All of this is a direct effect of high crude oil prices, the continuous stressful condition across Europe, and an increase in import commodities alongside a significant decrease in export.
Amongst all the chaos a very diplomatic and too-positive statement was made by the Finance Minister Of India, Nirmala Sitharam. At a conference held in the USA, the finance minister was asked about the fall of the Indian Rupee against the dollar. Also, the measures required to move forward amidst the constant decrease.
The minister said, “I would not see it as the rupee falling but the dollar strengthening”. She mentioned the incessant strengthening of the dollar. Stressing about how only the Indian rupee has been able to withstand it as compared to other currencies.
The “Religious Appeal” for Indian Currency
A press conference held by Arvind Kejriwal came with a surprise appeal or a not-so-subtle vote hoarding appeal, where he asked or rather requested the central government to add photos of Hindu deities Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on the corner opposite the photo of Mahatma Gandhi. The appeal is in the name of blessings from the gods which would help in the betterment of the economy.
Arvind Kejriwal started by mentioning the unstable financial condition of India. Also, the falling value of the rupee as compared to the dollar is concerning. Continuing that even after 75 years of independence India is still considered a developing nation or rather a poor nation. Said that a lot of steps are required to better the economy and make India a developed nation. But all of this will only be successful if the country has the blessings of Gods and Goddesses. He mentioned how big business owners and successful people have idols or photos of Goddess Lakshmi in their rooms or offices, who they worship every day.
He mentioned how Goddess Lakshmi symbolizes prosperity and Lord Ganesha clears all the obstacles on the path to success. He said that there is no need to change the existing currency but to implement the change in the fresh currency printed every month. This will slowly flood the market with new currency.
He supposedly made this appeal to the PM and central government on the behalf of 130 crores of Indians.
The Factual Error
Everything being said Arvind Kejriwal mentioned Indonesia which is a muslin country with <2% Hindus but still has a photo of Ganesh Ji on the currency. But this statement turned out to be wrong as the said currency is no longer in circulation and was demonetized in 2008.
Articles and social media posts mentioning this error have been trending one of them being, (https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/demonetised-indonesian-currency-lord-ganesha-shared-as-recent-fact-check?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-thequint&utm_content=later-30600326&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio#read-more)
A reporter questioned him about the photos being offensive to the people of other religions, Arvind Kejriwal just said “If Indonesia can do it, then why not India”.
The Aftermath
After Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal, a tornado of opinions supporting and also not supporting his appeal took over Indian politics. The political party BJP shared a video of their spokesperson Sambit Patra on their Twitter official account where he was seen criticizing Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal.
A minister of the Punjab Congress also shared his views opposing the appeal through his Twitter account.
KC Venugopal, a member of Rajya Sabha posted a tweet highlighting that the appeal is a direct reflection of Arvind Kejriwal’s hunger for power and strategy to hoard votes in the upcoming Gujarat Elections.
After the backlash faced by Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal, the ministers of the Aam Admi Party were quick to defend him and a video regarding it was also posted on the official Twitter account of AAP where Atishi Marlena was seen requesting BJP to accept the appeal.
All of these intense opinions were accompanied by a comment filled with sarcasm and satiety. The said comment was made by the famous comedian Daniel Fernandes on his Instagram account.
All of these opinions are of no use if they can’t bring any tangible change to the economy of the country. India is a nation of diverse religions and the printing God of one religion is like alienating other religions. This does not matter done with good intentions or not is just a political tactic and nothing more.
