New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today publically rebuked the recent remarks of BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, saying that people needed to be more responsible as mere publicity will not do any good to the nation.
In an interview to a private news channel, Modi said, “Whether it is someone from my party or not I believe such things are inappropriate,” and added that anybody who believed they were bigger than the system was wrong.
Swamy has been quite vocal in his criticism of RBI chief Raghuram Rajan, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. Swamy even claimed victory after Rajan announced that he would not seek a second term as RBI Governor.
Swamy, in letters to the PM, claimed that Rajan's green card exhibits that he is "mentally not fully Indian" and that his refusal to drop interest rates has "wilfully" hurt the economy. However, PM Modi said Rajan was as much a patriot as anybody else.
Modi then went on to praise Rajan, who has said no to a second term in RBI, saying 'his patriotism was no less' and was sure that he would continue to serve India irrespective of whether he was in some position or not.
The PM also reiterated that he wants to send a very clear message and that he was "not in two minds about it".
"Whether it is in my party or not, still I think such things are inappropriate. This fondness for publicity is never going to do any good to the nation. People should conduct themselves with utmost responsibility. If anybody considers himself above the system, it is wrong," the Prime Minister told Times Now.
Notably, the bureaucrats who are under attack from Swamy come under Finance Ministry.
Countering allegations of the government mishandling Rajan's exit, PM Modi said his experience with Rajan as RBI Governor was good and that he was impressed by Rajan's work. Condemning Swamy without directly naming him, Modi said those stirring controversies over Rajan were insulting him.
"Those creating controversies over Raghuram Rajan's exit are insulting him. To say that he will not serve India if he is not at a particular post have not understood him. As far as I know him, Rajan is a patriot and loves India. He will work in India's interests wherever he is," he said.
Swamy has also indirectly targeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is currently visiting China, with his tweet stating that “Indian politicians look like waiters when they wear western clothes abroad" raising many eyebrows in his own party. However, he dismissed such reports claiming that his tweets on the matter had been taken out of context, adding that he thought that Jaitley looked quite good when he travelled abroad.
He further said that he had always targeted politicians in western threads when they travelled abroad, even during the UPA regime.
Jaitley, who cut shorty his five-day visit to China and returned today, met PM Modi and a host of issues were reportedly discussed.
Swamy has accused CEA Subramanian of siding with the US in a row over intellectual property rights before he joined the government.
Last Thursday, after Swamy named Das in a tweet, Jaitley also took to Twitter and launched a counter: “An unfair and false attack on a disciplined civil servant in the Finance Ministry.”
Swamy's criticism met with a rare return of fire from Jaitley, who told reporters that it is unfair to attack those in government "whose discipline and constraints of office restrain them from responding"
