Wish PM had spoken earlier: Congress on Modi rebuking Swamy

The Congress Party has downplayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's veiled attack on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for his continuous tirade against RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, saying the latter could have spoken much earlier and prevented the situation from escalating.

Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Anand Sharma said it for the Prime Minister and BJP President Amit Shah to deal with the internal conflicts happening within their party.

"We wish Prime Minister Modi had spoken earlier. Perhaps that would have prevented the situation from aggravating. What is happening in his party is for him and his party president to deal with, but these (Swamy) are gifts that they have given to themselves," Sharma told ANI.

In an interview to Times Now, Prime Minister Modi disapproved of Swamy's attacks on Raghuram Rajan and some top Finance Ministry officials. He termed the criticism as inappropriate.

"I believe Raghuram Rajan's patriotism is no less than any of ours. It will be doing injustice to him if one says that he will serve the country only if he is at a particular post. As much as I know Raghuram Rajan, whatever post he holds, wherever he is, he is someone who will continue to serve the country," he said.

"He is someone who loves his country. Therefore, it's not like the nation won't get Raghuram Rajan's services, Raghuram Rajan is not that kind of a person. He is a person who loves the country. Those who speak such language are doing great injustice to him," he added.

Prime Minister Modi's comments assume significance in the context of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the BJP distancing themselves from Swamy's recent attacks on Raghuram Rajan, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramananian and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.