Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy on Saturday claimed that Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das was “highly corrupt”, PTI reported. Das’s appointment as the head of the central bank came as a “surprise”, Swamy said, without giving details about his allegation.
“I got him removed from the [Finance Ministry],” Swamy said at an event. “I am calling Shaktikanta Das a corrupt person. I am surprised that the man I got removed from the Finance Ministry for corruption was brought in as governor.”
Swamy later told reporters that he considered R Vaidyanathan, a professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, a much better choice for the post. “He is also an old Sangh man,” Swamy said. “He is our man.”
Das, a former bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance, was appointed to the central bank on December 11, a day after the incumbent, Urjit Patel, resigned. Patel’s resignation came almost a year before his tenure was slated to end. It came amid reports of a rift between the government and the central bank.
Swamy had earlier said Patel’s resignation was bad for the economy, for the government and for the RBI. “He should at least stay till July, until the next government comes to power,” he had said.
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