Jaitley disapproves personal attack against Rajan

Amid Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy stepping up his tirade against Raghuram Rajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said he did not approve of “personal comments” against anyone including the RBI Governor.

“I don’t approve of personal comments against anyone, let alone the RBI Governor,” he said when asked about the attack against Rajan in the past few months and if there was an effort on part of the government to ring-fence the Governor.

The Reserve Bank, Jaitley said, is an important institution which makes its own judgement. “One can agree or disagree with their judgment, but that’s a debate on issues. I don’t think we should allow a public discourse, where instead of debate on issues we concentrate on debate on persons,” he said.

In separate letters to PM Narendra Modi within a fortnight, Swamy has sought immediate dismissal of the RBI Governor, alleging that Rajan was “mentally not fully Indian” and had “wilfully” wrecked the economy by keeping interest rate high. Swamy also accused Rajan of sending confidential and sensitive financial information around the world.

Jaitley said the RBI and the government were in continuous dialogue and that relationship would continue. Rajan’s tenure is scheduled to end in September.