Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Monday broke his silence on joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Stating that he took part not in his capacity as a former public servant or an economist but as a “concerned citizen”, Rajan said in a LinkedIn post that it was his support for those who were “walking the length of India to strengthen national unity and communal harmony”.
“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,” said Rajan, who joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on December 14.
“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,” he added.
Rajan’s participation in the Yatra had triggered a political storm with the BJP hitting out at the economist and terming his commentary on India as “coloured and opportunistic”.
“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…,” tweeted BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya.
The Congress, on the other hand, hailed his support to the Yatra. “Rajan is a fine economist, a man of high integrity, a man whose heart beats for an inclusive India and above all one of the most fearless people I know,” said Supriya Shrinate of the Congress.
Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from Delhi today after a nine-day winter break and entered Uttar Pradesh through the Loni border in Ghaziabad. Rahul Gandhi will spend three days in the politically crucial state before entering Haryana and then move to Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and finally Jammu and Kashmir.
The Yatra has so far covered around 3,200 km, over 109 days, spanning through 50 districts in 10 states and one Union Territory — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.