Swamy again urges Modi to remove RBI Governor

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Thursday again urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan for, among other things, "reckless disregard of national security interests".

In a letter to the prime minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian raised six objections against the Reserve Bank of India Governor's conduct as a "government official".

Swamy accused Rajan of raising interest rates which, according to him, led to recession; sending 'confidential and sensitive' financial information to various persons around the world; and being 'publicly disparaging of the BJP government', among other things.

"Dr. Rajan's insistence on raising the interest rates led to a recession in the domestic small and medium industries and thereby caused not only a sharp decline in output but also a massive unemployment of semi-skilled labour," Swamy wrote.

The other objections raised by Swamy are Rajan holding a US green card despite holding a sensitive and very high government of India post; his insistence on setting up Shariah-compliant financial institutions; and Rajan being a member of the 'US-dominated' Group of 30.

"As governor of RBI, Dr. Rajan sent confidential and sensitive financial information to various persons around the world on his University of Chicago's unsecure personal email address. This is a reckless disregard of the security interests of India," the Rajya Sabha member wrote.

Meanwhile, union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he disapproved of personal attacks on the RBI Governor.

"I do not approve of any personal comments on anyone, let alone the RBI governor. The RBI is an important institution; it makes its judgement. One can agree or disagree with their judgement, but that is matter of debate," Jaitley told NDTV.

After his nomination to the Rajya Sabha last month, Swamy has been repeatedly attacking Rajan.

On May 16, Swamy had written to Modi for Rajan's removal, saying "he is mentally not fully Indian".

On May 12 also, Swamy had blamed Rajan for rising inflation and increasing unemployment in the country, and called for his immediate removal.

Rajan's term ends on September 3. He was appointed RBI Governor by the previous United Progressive Alliance government.

--IANS

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