Praising Modi for providing an inspiring leadership, Swamy asked him to instead appoint some nationalist-minded expert as RBI governor who are plenty in the country.
After launching a verbal attack on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Dr Raghuram Rajan last week, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy has followed it up in writing.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy has sought Rajan's immediate removal in "national interest", charging him for "wilful and deliberate attempt to wreck the Indian economy" and contends that being a Green Card holder, he is "mentally not fully Indian."
"Otherwise, why would he he renew his Green Card as RBI governor by making mandatory annual visit to the US to keep the Green Card current," Swamy asked in his letter dated May 16.
Praising Modi for providing an inspiring leadership, Swamy asked him to instead appoint some nationalist-minded expert as RBI governor who are plenty in the country.
Swamy's tirade, however, got strong reaction from Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. "Why does not Dr Swamy come out and hit the real target? His real target seems to be the finance minister. Why set up dummy targets like the RBI governor, who unfortunately can't speak? The governor is not going to enter into a public spat," said Ramesh.
Rajan is one of the most eminent central bankers in the world, acknowledged authority in finance and monetary economics, said Ramesh, adding that a respected and venerable institution like RBI is beyond politics.
While senior BJP leaders did not enter into the controversy, its spokesperson on economic affairs Gopalkrishna Aggarwal said that being a senior leader, Swamy's opinion definitely matters but the final decision is always that of the government.
Citing examples of Rajan's actions that have hurt the economy bad, Swamy alleged that the "concept of containing inflation by raising interest rates is disastrous."
"When the WPI (wholesale price index) started to decline due to induced recession in small and medium industry, he (Dr Rajan) shifted the target from WPI to CPI (consumer price index) which has declined because of retail prices....Had Dr Rajan stuck to WPI, interest rates would have been much lower today and given huge relief to small and medium industries. Instead they are further squeezed and consequently increasing unemployment," Swamy said, emphasising reasons for Dr Rajan's scalp.
Swamy also held Dr Rajan responsible for doubling of non- productive assets in public sector banks to Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the last two years.
Dr Rajan was appointed RBI governor by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in September 2013 for a three-year term, which can be extended.
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