BJP MP Subramanian Swamy’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan be sacked has created a ticklish situation for the party, which termed the letter Dr. Swamy’s personal opinion and not the official line of the party, but privately admitted to sympathy with his views.
Dr. Swamy, in a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister, had termed the Dr. Rajan not “fully mentally Indian” and an appointee of the last UPA regime who “was apparently working against Indian economic interests.”
“I cannot see why someone appointed by the UPA government who is apparently working against Indian economic interests should be kept in this post when we have so many nationalist-minded experts available in this country for the RBI governorship,” he said in his letter.
BJP spokesperson on economic affairs Gopalkrishna Agarwal said Dr. Swamy was “a senior leader” whose opinions “definitely matter” but added the final say was with the government.
Not official line of partyBJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav said “Dr. Swamy’s letter was not the official line of the party.”
Dr. Agarwal’s statement, however, was the give away, with several senior party men saying that they were “uncomfortable” with Dr. Rajan’s continuance.
“If nothing else, his remarks that India’s economic prospects were like that of a one eyed king in the land of the blind was not appreciated,” said a senior office-bearer of the party.
