RBI guv’s resignation gives opposition fresh ammo

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties attacked the government on the resignation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel on Monday, with the Congress alleging that he was not able to function while trying to protect the institution.

The resignation gave a fresh handle to the Opposition to attack the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the eve of the commencement of the winter session of Parliament and a day ahead of the counting of votes in five states. The issue also came up for discussion at a meeting 21 opposition parties at the Parliament House complex.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh hoped that Patel’s sudden resignation was not a “harbinger of the Modi government’s attempts to destroy” the institutional foundations of India’s $3 trillion economy.

“I have known Dr Patel to be an economist of high repute and also someone who cared deeply about India’s financial institutions and economic policy,” he said in a statement. “Dr Patel’s sudden resignation, at a time when the Indian economy is faced with many headwinds is very unfortunate and is a severe blow to the nation’s economy,” he said.

Singh said building institutions take a long time but they can be destroyed in a whimper. “It is institutions such as the RBI, among many others that have served as the edifice of our great nation’s progress since independence. It will be foolhardy to diminish these institutions for short-term political gains,” he said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi too hit out at the government, saying it is getting “more and more desperate” and taking measures that are dangerous for the country. “The RBI governor has resigned because he was protecting the institution and was not able to function. Taking away the reserves from the RBI, to save your skin, to atone for the sin that you have done, to try and fix the mismanagement that you have done is an act that is against this nation,” he told reporters after the meeting of opposition leaders.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram said no self-respecting scholar or academic can work in the government whose immediate agenda was to “grab the reserves” of the central bank to meet its fiscal deficit target.

“Government’s immediate agenda is to grab the reserves of the RBI to meet its fiscal deficit target and to get funds for spending in an election year,” he said in a series of tweets.

Hesaidoneshouldnotmake any mistake about the government’s intention, which is to make RBI “a Board-managed company”, insisting that the last meeting of the RBI board held on November 19 was the “day of reckoning” and Patel should have resigned on that day.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee called it a matter of “great shock” and alleged that “institutions, from the CBI to the RBI, have become total disasters”. “This has never happened before. It is a matter of great shock. We must protest. The RBI is the custodian of public money. The credibility of all institutions is being destroyed. This is a financial and economic emergency,” she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Patel. “Dr. Urjit Patel is a thorough professional with impeccable integrity. He has been in the Reserve Bank of India for about 6 years as Deputy Governor and Governor. He leaves behind a great legacy. We will miss him immensely,” he tweeted.