Mani Shankar Aiyar differs with Raghuram Rajan, calls PM Modi 'one-eyed king' of Indian economy

Expressing disagreement with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan's statement, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 'one-eyed king' of the present Indian economy.

"I don't agree with him. The original expression is 'in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king'. And in Mr. Modi, we have a one-eyed man," Aiyar told ANI. "The fact is it is the economy, which is the kingdom of the blind, because nothing has happened to promote in reality the 'acche din' which was promised. All that has been exposed is that Modi was deliberately cheating the people when during the election, he promised with credibility that 'acche din' were around the corner," he added.

The Congress leader also said that there is so much disillusionment across every segment of the economy, including the RBI that even Raghuram Rajan, who is otherwise a very affluent speaker, is stumbling at the old expression. "It is not the economy that is blind. It is the king, the Prime Minister of India, who is actually blind," he said.

With India being often described as 'the bright spot in the global economy', Rajan sees this as a case of 'the one-eyed man' being king in the land of the blind. When asked for his take on the 'bright spot' theory and what was his 'secret sauce' to ensure this positioning, the RBI Governor yesterday said, "I think we have still to get to a place where we feel satisfied. We have this saying, 'In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king'. We are a little bit that way."