The controversy surrounding a second term for incumbent RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has been unprecedented. BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy has been gunning for his ouster, the Centre has been tight-lipped or at best evasive, but several members of India Inc and assorted surveys have shown that his approval ratings are high. Understandably then, Rajan has been dominating headlines.
Prime Minister Modi however, declined to take sides on the debate. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, PM Modi explained:
I don’t think this administrative subject can be an issue for the media. And that issue is only in September, not now.
BJP’s Subramanian Swamy has been speaking against Rajan, writing letters to the PM seeking for his immediate ouster. Among Swamy’s many allegations is that Rajan spiked interest rates, hurting small scale industries, his policies are ‘anti-national’ and that he’s ‘mentally not Indian’.
Rajan was appointed in 2013 as the head of RBI by the previous UPA government.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said RBI and the government are in continuous dialogue and that relationship will continue.
Jaitley also said that he does not approve of “personal comments” against anyone including the RBI Governor.
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(With inputs from PTI, WSJ)
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