After the government openly and strongly backed the chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian who is emerging as one of the frontrunners for the post of the RBI governor, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy backtracked. "If the BJP Union govt says that we know all about AS (Arvind Subramanian) but still he is an asset, then I will suspend my demand and wait for events to prove truth," tweeted Swamy on Thursday morning.
Unlike last time when he relentlessly attacked RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, this time, the government responded almost immediately. Mounting a strong defence of Subramanian, who was appointed by the government in October 2014, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the BJP too did not share Swamy’s view. He reminded him of the “discipline and constraints of those whose offices prevent them from responding, and this has happened more than once” — referring to Swamy’s attacks on Rajan and Subramanian.
Jaitley along with telecom minister Ravi Shanker Prasad, said that the government has "full confidence" in Subramanian as Chief Economic Adviser and cautioned against the trend of attacking persons whose "office and discipline constrain them from responding to baseless charges".
Swamy, who has advertised his own suitability for Finance Minister, said that Subramanian had backed Washington in a row over intellectual property rights before joining the government. Swamy's attack on Mr Subramanian comes amid uncertainty over who might succeed Mr Rajan at the central bank when his term expires in September. The Chief Economic Advisor is seen as among the contenders.
“The government has full confidence in CEA Arvind Subramanian. His advice to government from time to time has been of great value. In fact, the presentation that Mrs Verma (Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma) made just now on the textiles and garment sector (at the media briefing on Cabinet decisions Wednesday), I think this was also prepared in active consultation with him. And the party, of course, has said that they don’t share Dr Swamy’s view,” Jaitley said.
