Aakriti Handa Moneycontrol News
After Urjit Patel resigned as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Congress accused the Narendra Modi-led NDA government of interfering with the independence of the RBI.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala immediately took to Twitter where he slammed the ruling BJP for "RBI Governor's unceremonious exit". He said:
This sentiment of the Congress was reiterated by former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram who said that "No self-respecting scholar or academic can work in this government". In a series of tweets, Chidambaram commended Urijit Patel for his decision and said that he should have resigned a long time ago.
However, the change in the tone of the Congress when it comes to the RBI Governor is a clear shift in narrative.
Back then, the Congress had labelled Patel a "captive puppet" of the government in the aftermath of demonetisation.
While organising protests against demonetisation in major metro cities, Surjewala had told media persons, “Instead of playing the role of an independent monetary regulator and pushing for economic growth the RBI has become a post office simply following the diktats of Modi Government. Patel has been reduced to a captive puppet.”
Similarly, when all but 0.7 percent of the junked currency returned, Chidambaram had lambasted the RBI Governor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the futility of the exercise through a series of tweets:
In fact, Congress MP Veerappa Moily, who headed the Standing Committee which questioned Urjit Patel on demonetisation, today told media persons, “This is something that can’t be allowed. But they don’t want any independent institution. He (Patel) was only waiting before he sent his resignation. No gentleman, no RBI governor who is an economist with some stature, no economist worth his name can function under this government. This is so very clear from this resignation.”
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