Following Rajan’s Dismissal from the RBI Governor Post, Government Discloses Seven Names as Frontrunners

New Delhi: On Saturday, as the weekend started, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, announced that he will join his previous career in academia after his three-year term ends this September. Rajan is the only RBI Governor who has announced a step down just after the first three-year long term.

As EXIN Times sources has asserted the abrupt decision was announced as ‘he increasingly felt he lacked support from his political bosses finance minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to friends and colleagues.’ It was also speculated that ‘the James Bond of Indian Economy’ had announced his contraction as he felt that faction of the ruling BJP party holds negative inkling about him; among whon Subramanium Swamy is prominent.

However, two days after the announcement that has stirred the country, the Indian government denied forming a body to search for new RBI Governor. The government said that the name will be announced shortly. Rajan’s term will end at September 4, 2016. “It will happen reasonably in advance. We don't want unnecessary speculation. The process of selection is already on,” said a top government official to EXIN Times.

Amid nationwide online petition urging Rajan to stay, the Government has disclosed that there are seven candidates in the front-run to replace Rajan. Deputy Governor Urjit Patel, former CAG Vinod Rai, SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu and Economics Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das were among those being speculated as ‘possible contenders,’ reports said.

Raghuram Rajan has written a letter on Sunday following his announcement to his staffs. The letter read that he is planning to return to academia and thus his two staple actions- ‘the creation of a monetary policy committee to set interest rates and the clean-up of the heavily indebted banking sector - remained unfinished.’ “I am an academic and I have always made it clear that my ultimate home is in the realm of ideas. But I will, of course, always be available to serve my country when needed,” he added.