The rupee breached the 90-per-dollar mark for the first time on Wednesday, closing at a record low of 90.21 after slipping to an intraday 90.30. Sustained foreign fund outflows, rising crude prices and uncertainty over the India–US trade deal weighed on sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the currency opened at 89.96 before weakening through the session. Traders flagged the absence of any visible Reserve Bank intervention, a factor they said added to pressure on the rupee as it marked its weakest-ever close.

As the Indian rupee slid, social media reacted, as usual, with humour and wit directed against the Narendra Modi government.

“Indian Rupee fell to a new record low of 90 against dollar. If Nehru would have accepted Pound as India’s currency in 1947… Saari galti hi Nehru ki hai (it is Nehru’s mistake),” one user wrote sarcastically.

Another suggested a fix: “Rupee ka nam badal kar dollar and dollar ka rupee—tabhi 1 rupee = 90 dollar hoga.”

Some referenced industrialist Anand Mahindra’s 2013 post about the rupee “skydiving without a parachute,” reposting it with lines like, “Anand bhai, the rupee has fallen from space without an ISRO satellite again.”

One joked the rupee was “anti-national” for falling so sharply.

“Indian Rupee is the real anti national! How could it betray our great-o-great vishwaguru ji? How can Ind Rupee stoop so low?” echoed another.

Several users revived finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 2022 remark that the rupee had “performed much better than many other emerging market currencies,” circulating the old clip as the currency touched 90.

One comment on X said: “If something is heavy it will fall. Our rupee has strength and weight. That is why it's falling”.