Commenting on the continuing media debate on whether Modi govt would retain the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan or not Sahakar Bharati leader Satish Marathe has opined that it is being made out to be a fight between good and evil.
Marathe says vested interests are active casting a slur on all good works done by the Modi govt in the past two years. Writing in his FB wall Marathe says” RBI Guv’s continuance or otherwise is being made out as a FIGHT between the GOOD and the EVIL, by vested interests.
And a section of the media is lending support to vested interests, not realizing that it is losing credibility, he adds.
It is worth repeating that Rajan has been facing continuous attacks from BJP MP Subramanian Swamy and some others making allegations that he has failed to lower interest rates and boost the economy.
Opinions are divided on the issue of Rajan’s continuation: while some fear flight of foreign capital, others say the world trusts him and money is parked in India due to his high international reputation.
Some have gone so far as to say vested interests and cronies who have been forced to pay back their bank loans are at the back of the anti-Rajan campaign.
Subramaniun Swamy who has taught at Harvard University has written a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to remove Rajan as RBI Governor. Questioning Rajan’s credentials, Swamy said, “He is in this country on a Green Card provided by the US government and therefore not mentally fully Indian.”
Swamy also said Rajan is responsible for keeping rates high and thus slowing industrial growth. “He is acting more as a disrupter of the Indian economy than the person who wants the economy to improve,” he added.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley however, said he does not approve of “personal comments” against anyone including the RBI Governor.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is holding its third bimonthly money policy review today.