Who has taken the bait, Tharoor or Congress?

When Prime Minister Modi invited Shashi Tharoor for his dream project Swatch Bharath Abhiyan, many guessed it as bait. When Tharoor accepted the challenge, observers commented that he has taken the bait. The Sunanda Pushkar episode has put him in a great difficulty, and now BJP in power, he has to be extra careful. Even if he is so innocent in the incident, the ruling party with its control over CBI can do a lot of damage to Tharoor’s political career. So, it is quite normal for anybody to assume that Tharoor was trapped by Modi. However, it is clear that Modi is not just aiming Tharoor alone, but the whole Congress itself; see how Congress leadership, especially the KPCC reacted against Tharoor’s praise of Modi. Their image is declined and was criticized for being narrow minded. When the prime minister is taking an initiative to improve the country, why the ‘opposition’ is trying to find only negatives? In other words, by taking disciplinary action against Tharoor, it is the Congress Party which has taken the bait. I would say, even Tharoor scored well in the challenge with his good response.

Raghuram Rajan- A Ray of Hope

Reserve Bank of India has now a new head to lead the country during one of its most difficult days; Raghuram Rajan is appointed as the new governor of RBI, congratulations! The young (comparatively) man has lots of achievements as his credentials: Chief Economic Advisor of the Govt of India, former IMF economist, visiting professor to the World Bank and US Federal Reserve Board and an author of many books. His books include, Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists, Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy.

Apart from this, the appointment of Rakhuram Rajan has some more implications, according to experts. His appointment is at a time when Indian Rupee is in its historic downfall and one of his first priorities would be to manage the situation. However, his stand on the issue is that decline of the value of rupee is not a big matter as India is open to market economy. Both Raghuram and the present Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh have the same backgrounds, that of IMF and Reserve Bank. In other words, his appointment would strengthen capitalist policies of the govt.

His appointment has brought much hope in the economy, though some critics don’t see it. Since he is an idealist and often questioned the bad effects of capitalism, most people see a ray of hope. Whereas critics noted that he had been the Chief Economic Advisor of the govt when the country’s economy had witnessed much trouble, but he couldn’t do much to change the scenario, then how he can contribute anything as the RBI governor which is nothing but a bureaucratic position (of course, he argues for a limited role of RBI in economic matters). Let us hope for the best!

In between, I think BJP can also be happy in the appointment as at least one “Raghuram” is going to lead RBI, though it is not Lord Ram.