BJP on Falling Rupee Then Vs Now: This Viral Video is a Laugh Riot

“Rupee is in hospital, fighting for its life,” Narendra Modi said in 2013. As they say, the internet never forgets.

Rupaya aaj aspatal mein, jeevan aur mrityu ke beech khada hua hai. (The rupee is in the hospital today, fighting for its life.)

Narendra Modi

That was a quote by Narendra Modi in 2013, when he was not in power.

Five years later, when he is prime minister, the rupee crossed the 70 mark against the US dollar for the first time ever, in August 2018. At the time of publishing this article on 3 September, the rupee stood at 71.10 against the dollar.

And as they say, the internet does not forget. The Facebook page Official Peeing Human posted a video showing the stark difference in the reactions of BJP leaders to the falling rupee, based on whether they were out of government or in power.

BJP Then Versus BJP Now

In 2012, Modi had vehemently stated:

Main shaasan mein baitha hu, mujhe maaloom hai, iss prakaar se rupaya itni tezi se gir nahi sakta. Kya karan hai Hindustan ka rupiya patla hota ja raha hai? Ye jawaab dena padega aapko. Desh aapse jawaab maang raha hai. (I am in governance too, I know that the value of the rupee cannot dwindle so swiftly. What is the reason behind the Indian rupee falling like this? You will have to give an answer to this question. This nation demands an answer.)

Narendra Modi in 2012

The following year, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had famously said:

Rupaya ne is tarah phisalna shuru kiya, is tarah girna shuru kiya, kal toh TV lagane se dar lag raha tha. (The rupee has started falling in such a manner that I was scared of switching on the TV last night.)

Sushma Swaraj in 2013

After playing these statements from BJP leaders when in opposition, the Official Peeing Human video transitions into news clips from 2018, including an Aaj Tak anchor pointing out the following:

Lekin ab waqt badal chuka hai. Narendra Modi desh ke pradhan mantri ban chuke hain. Aur ab woh dollar ke mukaable rupaya ki girawat pe kuch nahi bol rahe. (But now, times have changed. Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister. And now, on the rupee’s fall against the dollar, he is not saying anything.)

Official Peeing Human also plays out an old quote by the present Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who had called the fall of the rupee in 2013 a "panic situation" and had demanded a response from then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

NDTV anchor Ravish Kumar is shown reacting to the current Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that we need not worry that the rupee is falling.

Listen carefully to what he has said: there’s no reason to let this (2018’s record low) worry you. There’s no reason to worry if the rupee falls to 80 per dollar too, as long as other currencies also keep falling.

Ravish Kumar on Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement

Towards the end of the video, Official Peeing Human plays a clip of PM Modi saying with a chuckle:

Hypocrisy ki bhi seema hoti hai. (Hypocrisy too has a limit.)