As the world descends to Davos for the World Economic Forum, CNBC-TV18 sat down with the former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to speak about his recent political involvements. In his interview with Shereen Bhan, the global economist said, "politics wasn't the reason" he joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Rajasthan as a part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra.

"There is a lot of interpretation of a walk I took with Rahul Gandhi. I think that was a statement about what I believe in, which is democracy and communal amity," Rajan clarified. "And I think the walk — Bharat Jodo — is an attempt to emphasise those things, and I was saying, 'I agree.' But no, politics wasn't the reason I joined."

Rajan's involvement in the Congress' mobilisation campaign had raised speculations about his political aspirations. He addressed these comments in a LinkedIn post where he clarified that he was walking as a "concerned citizen" and not a "former public servant or as an economist."

"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," Rajan's post read.

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His involvement, however, was not received well by certain politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who made their disdain known via social media.

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya had tweeted that the party was not surprised by Rajan joining Gandhi on his padayatra.

"He fancies himself as the next Manmohan Singh. Just that his commentary on India's economy should be discarded with disdain. It is coloured and opportunistic," Malviya had said.

Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor, a Congress appointee, joining Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is not a surprise. He fancies himself as the next Manmohan Singh. Just that his commentary on India’s economy should be discarded with disdain. It is coloured and opportunistic…

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 14, 2022

BJP's foreign affairs department's head Vijay Chauthaiwale echoed Malviya's sentiments and said, "One former RBI governor became head of government, and country lost 10 precious years. Thanks to Modi, India will not repeat that mistake. RRR (Raghuram Rajan) can walk from Delhi to Chicago."

Rajan is a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, has praised Rajan on certain occasions. Amid speculations that the Modi government would remove Rajan from his post as RBI governor, the prime minister noted that Rajan had done good work and would continue to serve the country in the future. Rajan had denied a second term after being initially appointed by the leading Congress party at the time.

Rajan served as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2013 to 2016, the chief economic adviser to the Indian government from August 2012 to September 2013 and the chief economist for the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007. He has historically been critical of some aspects of the current government's policies, especially their handling of the economy.

In his previous interviews, Rajan said that he had made it clear to the Modi government that the 2016 demonetisation, one of the most controversial policies made by the administration, was "not well-planned."

Rajan, a pandit on the Indian economy and trade, has also previously commented on the state of affairs in the nation in the realm of social justice and fundamental rights.

"When we suppress debate and criticism, it leads to poor one-size-fits-all uninformed policy choices with little course correction," Rajan said in October 2021 at the NALSAR University of Law.

He has, however, long stated that he is not interested in politics and has no ambitions in that field.

In a News18 report from 2017, Rajan had ruled out any possibility of him entering politics when there were rumours of him having received an offer from the Aam Aadmi Party.

"The answer is no ... on the issue of politics, my wife says very clearly no," Rajan had said.

First Published:Jan 18, 2023 1:36 PM IST