Pune, May 14 (PTI) NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Thursday expressed worry about the weakening rupee, and said the Union government did not take the situation seriously during the assembly elections in four states.
Speaking at a press conference here, the veteran leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to the people to reduce fuel consumption and take other austerity measures amid the tensions in West Asia should be taken seriously.
"The prime minister's appeal is being widely discussed across the country and it needs to be taken seriously.....The PM has indicated that there will be a serious impact on the economy," Pawar said.
While asking people to cooperate with the government, the NCP (SP) chief noted that these announcements were made only after the elections.
"The value of the rupee is declining, we need to think why this is happening. These decisions were taken after the election results were announced. During the elections, this seriousness was not shown by the country's leadership," the former Union minister said.
The rupee continued to weaken and fell to a record low of 95.73 against the US dollar on Thursday, amid a strong dollar and worries over inflation amid elevated energy prices.
The veteran leader also took a veiled swipe at ministers publicising their austerity measures in the wake of the PM's appeal.
"Since this morning, I have been seeing people, they are going to the office on motorcycles, some are even walking. One person even publicly said that he is a minister and has reduced the number of cars he uses. I was shocked, earlier he had 17 cars, and now the number has been reduced to eight," Pawar said.
Notably, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rode a motorbike to the legislature complex on Thursday while minister Nitesh Rane walked to the state secretariat.
Asked about the NEET paper leak, Pawar said such things have happened earlier too, and it shows how the system is failing.