As RBI governor Raghuram Rajan continues to face heat from some sections of the BJP, the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), on Thursday, backed a second term for the RBI governor, saying he has done a “great job” and personal attacks on him are “demeaning.”
Naushad Forbes echoed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s words that personal attacks are unwarranted.
“I would only repeat what Finance Minister has said that I don’t think personal attacks are warranted. I don’t think they serve us well at all as a country. They in a sense actually are demeaning. So I agree with him 100 per cent,” he told PTI.
Mr. Forbes, who is part of a high-level industry delegation accompanying Mr. Jaitley on the six-day visit to Japan, said he did not take the continuous attack by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Mr. Rajan seriously.
“I think the governor has been doing a great job for the country and we would certainly see it as a very positive move if he were reappointed,” he said.
Mr. Rajan, who was appointed by the previous UPA government for a three-year term that began on September 4, 2013, has been under attack from some quarters in BJP, for what they term as his failure to lower interest rates and boost economic growth.
“I am sure the government will take up the issue [of Mr. Rajan’s reappointment] at the appropriate time,” Mr. Forbes said.
Mr. Jaitley too, in an interview to PTI, earlier this week denounced the attack on Mr. Rajan, saying the debate should be about the issues and policies, and not about personalities.
“I do not approve of any of these comments being made by anyone as far as the personality is concerned, because the RBI and its Governor is an important institution in the Indian economy,” he had said.
