Twitterati Have a Field Day over Sitharaman’s ‘Rupee Is not Sliding’ Remark

Usually there isn’t much to tweet on an uneventful Sunday morning besides pics of Saturday night’s party or those of playing with your pet. But that’s not much fun, no?

Sometimes, however, the titans of the Twitter universe do get lucky when a too clever by half star of this universe comes up with a “sparkling” (in their head only) repartee that gives some fodder for, well, jokes.

This Sunday’s treat came from our very own Union finance minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, who came up with a “brilliant” observation regarding the sliding rupee against the US dollar, something in the league of, “The apple didn’t fall on Newton’s head. It was Newton who came between the apple and the ground.”

Currently on an official tour to the Unites States, when she was questioned by a journalist about the consistent slide of the Indian rupee against the dollar, the Indian finance minister said, “I will not look at it as rupee sliding, I will look at it as dollar strengthening. Dollar strengthening incessantly. So obviously all other currencies are performing against the strengthening dollar.”

Voila! The naughty Twitterati had got their Sunday fun. People immediately recalled Prime Minister’s Modi’s equally scientific observation that the climate change has not occurs, it’s we who have changed. See satirist Bhagat Ram's tweet:

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate recorded a video praising the finance minister’s humour.

When it comes to pulling a leg, friends are seldom far behind. So, party colleague Subramanian Swamy too joined the teasing twitterati. “Congrats. JNU never fails,” he wrote.

Another Twitter user wrote: "Rupee is not sliding, the dollar is strengthening" -- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman (2022).

"Hum pagal nahi hai, humara bas dimag kharab hai -- Sajid Khan, Humshakals (2014)."

One gentleman even pulled up the 38 per cent voters who voted for the BJP.

Yet another user dragged the recently release Global Hunger Index--that should be deeply embarrassing for a country that stood on 107th place out of 121, behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal--as if the poor finance minister is single-handedly responsible for this slide.

Oops, avoid the word slide for the minister doesn't like it and would scowl at reading this. Let's put it this way: "...as if the poor finance minister is single-handedly responsible for other countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal moving up in the index."

So, we are not hungry, other countries are eating more.

All said and done, one user wondered as to why the Union finance minister had turned the logic of sliding (oops, sorry again) rupee on its head compared to her position as an opposition leader. Here you go: