Sitharaman crosses swords with Revanth Reddy over Re fall

New Delhi: A bitter war of words ensued between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress member A Revanth Reddy in the Lok Sabha on Monday over rupee depreciation and the overall state of the economy.

The drama began during Question Hour, when Reddy, who represents Telangana's Malkajgiri, while asking a question on depreciation of rupee, referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's old statement on rupee's fall, which he had made when he was Gujarat Chief Minister.

Reddy said, quoting Modi's statement, that when the rupee was at 66 against the dollar, it was stated that it had gone to the ICU. So now when rupee is at 83.20, it seems like it is heading towards the mortuary.

Sitharaman, while responding to the question, said that "some people in Parliament are jealous of the country's growing economy." She said that even though the country was the fastest growing economy, the opposition was "jealous" and had a problem with it and took it as a joke.