Taking potshots at the government
over BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's call to sack Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Governor Raghuram Rajan, the Congress on Friday dubbed it to be 'fascism' and
an attack on the institution not the individual.
"The question is not about
good and bad work. The Reserve Bank of India Governor's tenure is for a period
of three years. It was one year in the UPA and now another two years are coming
to an end in the NDA. So, if the people in the BJP and NDA and the Prime
Minister were so upset with him then they should have asked for his
resignation," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told the media here.
"Why did they keep him in
office for another two years? So, now they have put people against him since
the government does not have the conviction and impetus to take action against
him. So, this is fascism. The question here is not about Raghuram Rajan but an attack on the
institution," he added.
In an interview to the Wall Street
Journal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the issue of reappointment of the RBI
Governor was an administrative subject, adding it should not be an issue of
interest of the media.
The Prime Minister's comments come
in wake of the continuing attack on Rajan recently by Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy.
Reiterating that Rajan must be
removed from his post at the earliest, Swamy had earlier this month written to
Prime Minister Modi, asserting that he was shocked by the deliberate attempt by
the RBI Governor to 'wreck' the Indian
economy.
"When the Wholesale Price
Index (WPI) started to decline due to induced recession in the small and medium
industry, he shifted the target from WPI to the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
which has not however declined because of the retail prices. On the contrary,
it has risen. Had Dr. Rajan stuck to WPI interest rates would have been much
lower today, and given huge relief to small and medium industries, instead,
they are squeezed further and consequent increasing unemployment," Swamy
said.
Appealing to the Prime Minister to
take action, Swamy added that he could not stand to watch seeing someone
appointed by the UPA regime who is 'against Indian economic interests' to be
kept in this post when there are so many other nationalist minded experts
available.
Speaking to ANI later on his
letter, the BJP leader held Rajan and not the NDA
Government responsible for India's failing economy.
"Our industrial growth is
running in minus. What he is doing right now is killing a sick patient instead
of healing him. No matter how many times I wrote to him and warned him, he has
not budged from his ways. He is a UPA appointee. Why should we keep him? Must
terminate him immediately," Swamy said.
The three-year term of Rajan ends
in September.
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