New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate termination of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.
Swamy also blamed the RBI Governor for non-availability of cheaper capital in the country. “They get capital at two percent interest. In India, the interest rate is 12 percent or even higher, thanks to Raghuram Rajan,” he said.
"I am shocked by the willful and apparently deliberate attempt by Dr Rajan to wreck the Indian economy," he said in the letter to PM Modi.
Further he accused Rajan of ‘acting more as a disrupter of the Indian economy than the person who wants the Indian economy to improve’. He also said that the RBI Governor is in this country on a ‘Green Card’ and therefore 'mentally not fully Indian'.
"The reason why I recommend this is that I am shocked by the wilful and apparently deliberate attempt by Dr Rajan to wreck the Indian economy," he wrote adding his concept of raising interest rates to contain inflation was disastrous.
Also, bad loans with public sector banks has doubled to Rs 3.5 lakh crore in two years, he said. Rajan was appointed RBI Governor by the previous UPA government in September 2013 for a three-year term, which can be extended.
"These actions of Dr Rajan lead me to believe that he is acting more as a disrupter of the Indian economy than the person who wants the Indian economy to improve. Moreover he is in this country on a Green Card provided by the US government and therefore mentally not fully Indian. Otherwise why would he renew his Green Card as RBI Governor by making the mandatory annual visit to the US to keep the Green Card current?" he wrote.
This is for the second time in last few days that the BJP leader openly called for Rajan’s removal because he was responsible for the ‘rise in unemployment and collapse of industry’.
Stating that time has come to think of major economic reforms in India for the sake of the country, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “It is about time we think of major economic reforms to set our house in order.”
Swamy said the country should utilise its strengths to achieve a high economic growth. “Let’s utilise our strengths. Agriculture is our greatest strength. Besides, we have a young labour force,” he said.
Swamy said India may look for agricultural and dairy product exports to the US and Europe. He also called for a level playing field for developing countries like India.
“Currently, the US and Europe have several trade restrictions. We will have to fight for a level playing field at forums like the World Trade Organisation,” he said.
“They want their cheap capital to flow into India but resist migration of our cheap labour to their places,” he said.
