'Never recommended it,' Swamy clarifies on 'Goddess Lakshmi on notes' remark

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy clarified on his earlier 'Goddess Lakshmi on notes' remark, and said that his words were misconstructed. He said that he just suggested Goddess Lakshmi's name if India was to ever get the picture of a Hindu deity on its currency notes, and never said that it would lead an improvement in the state of the economy.

New Delhi: Issuing a clarification on his earlier statement where he seemingly suggested printing Goddess Lakshmi's image on Indian currency notes to improve the state of the economy, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said that he was just responding to a question and did not recommend the move.

Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, Swamy said that he was talking about how Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation, still held on to the Hindu culture from its ancestors, at a lecture in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district on January 15.

"I was talking about how when the value of their (Indonesia's) currency was falling, their Finance Minister agreed to a suggestion of getting a picture of Lord Ganesh printed on one of the currency notes. It actually did help as the value of the currency improved. Everyone laughed when I said that," he said.

"When a reporter later asked me later that if the same is done in India, whose picture should be printed on our currency, I replied Goddess Lakshmi," he added.

"I never said that if you print the Goddess' picture, the state of our economy will improve. It will improve only through our policies. Yes, with Goddess Lakshmi's blessings it might improve quickly, but I never recommended it," he further said, adding that his words were misconstructed.

Swamy made the statement while speaking to reporters on Tuesday night after addressing a lecture series titled 'Swami Vivekananda Vyakhyanmala' in Khandwa district.

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