Why not Ambedkar's photo? asks Manish Tewari after Kejriwal appeals for inclusion of Lakshmi-Ganesh image on currency notes

Arvind Kejriwal

After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's appeal to include images of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on currency notes, Congress MP and former union minister Manish Tewari on Thursday suggested including Babasaheb Ambedkar's photo on currency notes.

"Why not Dr Baba Sahib Ambedkar's photograph on new series of currency notes? One side the great Mahatma, the other side Dr Ambedkar. Non-violence, Constitutionalism and egalitarianism fusing in a unique Union that would sum up the modern Indian genius perfectly," Tewari said in Twitter post.

The Congress leader's remarks came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider including the images of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on currency notes in India to "improve the economic situation of the country".

"Today I appeal to the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Indian currency there is a photo of Gandhi ji, let that be, on the other side of currency, a photo of Shri Ganesh Ji and Lakshmi ji should be put. As I said we have to make lot of effort to improve the economic situation of our country. But also with that, we need blessings from Gods and Goddesses," Kejriwal said in his address.

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"The whole country will get blessings if on currency notes, there is a photo of Ganesh Ji and Lakshmi ji on one side and Gandhi ji on other side. If Indonesia can do it; choose Ganesh Ji, so can we... I will write to the centre tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to appeal for it... we need the almighty's blessings apart from the efforts to settle the economic condition of the country," added the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.

Lord Ganesha is inscribed on the 20,000 rupiah note of Indonesia.

India's foreign exchange reserves during the week that ended on October 14 fell to an over two-year low of USD 528.367 billion, a drop of USD 4.5 billion from the previous week.

In the preceding week, the country's foreign exchange reserves were at USD 532.868 billion, RBI data showed.

According to RBI's data, India's foreign currency assets, which are the biggest component of the forex reserves, declined by USD 2.828 billion to USD 468.668 billion during the week.

The value of gold reserves dropped by USD 1.5 billion to USD 37.453 billion during the week.

The value of India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund declined by USD 149 million to USD 17.433 billion during the week under review, the RBI data showed. The reserves have been falling for months now because of RBI's likely intervention in the market to defend the depreciating rupee against a surging US dollar.

For the record, the Indian rupee has been weakening over the past few weeks to hit fresh new all-time lows as the US dollar strengthened against major global currencies. (

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