Here's what ex-RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said on joining politics

'I have a family and a wife, who doesn't want me to enter politics for a good reason,' says Raghuram Rajan

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan has said his family is against him entering politics.

 “I have said this repeatedly and people still don't believe me. I am an academic, my business is not kissing babies. I have a family and a wife, who doesn't want me to enter politics for a good reason. So rather than enter politics what I would like to do is help guide where I can," he said about speculation that he is joining the Congress party.

“And that's what I try to do. So where I feel government policies are going off track regardless of whether I'm in government or not - I talk about it," he added.

 

Discussing his relationship with Rahul Gandhi and whether he advises the Congress leader, Rajan said, “I think that's such a wrong portrayal in the sense that you know he's smart, intelligent, and also brave. I think what people discount - which they should not - is this is a family which has seen the grandmother assassinated, the father blown up.”

“To engage in politics, to be in the midst of crowds - if I had that experience I'd be hiding in a bed all the time. So I think there are a lot of commendable attributes and if you look at his record of what he's been saying on events. I think he's been right during Covid...(when he said) we need to do more preparation, we need to act early. It was the Congress calling off rallies which eventually led to the stopping politicking during the second wave,” Rajan added.

While acknowledging that Rahul Gandhi does not have all the answers, Rajan described him as “a very reasonable leader contrary to what has been portrayed. He has strong convictions, you have to debate those convictions if you disagree with them but he's perfectly willing to engage in that debate.”

Speculation over Rajan joining the Congress gained ground after he participated in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in December 2022. Rajan expressed his support for those “walking the length of India to strengthen national unity and communal harmony.”

In a post on LinkedIn on January 2, Rajan wrote, “Love, not hate, equality and justice, not cronyism and oppression, unity in diversity, not divisiveness, a vibrant argumentative democracy, not an intolerant police state, a cooperative world, not a world at war: these are all worth struggling for. Unless everyone does their little bit, however, each one of these will be at risk in the coming years.”

“That is why I took part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, not as a former public servant or as an economist but as a concerned citizen. I walked a few miles to add my support to those committed citizens, who, in time-honoured Indian fashion, are walking the length of India to strengthen national unity and communal harmony,” Rajan added.