Chidambaram takes on Modi, says rupee value fell under NDA rule

NEW DELHI: Taking on Narendra Modi for claiming that the value of the rupee did not fall during NDA rule, finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said this was yet another item in the "collection" of history lessons from the Gujarat chief minister.
Referring to Modi's reported remarks that then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not let the value of the rupee fall, he said the exchange of the rupee was 39.49 to a dollar in March 1998 when the NDA government was first formed.
"It declined further to Rs 42.84 in May 1999 when NDA again formed government after elections. It further declined to Rs 45.33 on May 21, 2004 when NDA demitted office," Chidambaram said.
"We can add another item to our collection of items under the chapter history lessons from Shri Narendra Modi," he said in a statement.