'Strong govt giving us weaker rupee': Shashi Tharoor on rupee fall

New Delhi, July 19: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday took a dig at the government hours after the rupee hit a new record low of more than 80 per US dollar for the first time.

"Rupee has crossed ₹80. Modi Ji is the one who made it an election issue in 2014. He was going to strengthen the rupee when he came because it shows a weak government, therefore a weak rupee... but then what is the strong government giving us? Even a weaker rupee," the Congress MP was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"When Modi Ji came to power, the rupee was 50 something, now it's 80. Where is the question of responsibility? Everything you import is costing more because rupee has gone down, fuel prices up, price rise is high and imposition of GST is an extra burden on the common man," he added.

His remarks came soon after he, along with other opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest at parliament against inflation as the monsoon session entered the second day.

"Joined the Opposition protest in front of Parliament this morning. It is truly outrageous that at a time when prices are spiralling upwards, the rupee is collapsing & people's salaries are feeling the pinch, the Govt increases GST across the board on items of common consumption! (sic)", Tharoor tweeted.

Rupee hit its all-time low and breached the psychological mark of 80 per dollar on Tuesday.