New Delhi: Ticking off Subramanian Swamy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday disapproved of his attacks on Raghuram Rajan calling them “inappropriate” and asserted the RBI Governor was “no less patriotic than us”.
PM Modi then went on to praise Rajan, who has said no to a second term in RBI, saying his patriotism was no less and was sure that he would continue to serve India irrespective of whether he was in some position or not.
“My experience with him has been good and I appreciate the work that he has done. He is no less patriotic. He loves India. Wherever he will work, he will work for India and he is patriotic,” he said in an apparent riposte to Swamy’s attack that Rajan not mentally fully Indian.
In a veiled message to the newly-nominated BJP MP, he said the nation will not benefit from “such craving for publicity” and added “if anybody considers himself above the system then it is wrong”.
The Prime Minister’s comments assume significance in the context of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the BJP distancing themselves from Swamy’s recent attacks on Rajan, CEA Arvind Subramananian and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
Swamy also had made some carping comments about Jaitley without taking his name. “Whether it is in my party or not, still I think such things are inappropriate. This fondness for publicity is never going to do any good to the nation. People should conduct themselves with utmost responsibility. If anybody considers himself above the system, it is wrong,” the Prime Minister told a private news channel.
