‘Not As Former Public Servant Or Economist…’: Raghuram Rajan Writes Why He Took Part In Bharat Jodo Yatra

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said that India is being undermined by majoritarian populists as he elaborated on why he joined the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, party leader Sachin Pilot and others during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Sawai Madhopur district, Dec. 14, 2022.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on Monday raised concerns about majoritarian populism in the world as well as India as he revealed why he joined Congress MP Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra recently. In his post titled 'Resolutions for the new year', the acclaimed economist elaborated his views on the socio-political scenario in the country.

"India too is being undermined by majoritarian populists, who sow distrust and divisiveness. They incite the majority community to avenge historic wrongs that no one today bears responsibility for, even while inexorably centralizing power, and repressing data and criticism. Debate is giving way to diktat, communal amity to fear," he wrote.

On joining the Congress march, Rajan stated, "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-honored Indian fashion, are walking the length of India to strengthen national unity and communal harmony."

In his New Year post, he warned that "the forces of hate always look for new victims when the old ones have been finished off, for it is hate that holds the movement together. And smoldering anger among those who are crushed under the state’s jackboot has a way of erupting in unpredictable and dangerous ways."  

The economist stressed that the country has "enough diversity to keep hatemongers busy for a long time", "pick any feature that has torn other countries apart and we have
it."

Rajan raised similar concerns as voiced by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi when he remarked, "At a time our country faces enormous threats on its borders, the hatemongers’ divisive agenda is truly anti‐national. We can, nay we must, do better."

In his New Year resolution, the former RBI governor called for fellow citizens to do more to "preserve the India we love, and the world we cherish."

Raghuram Rajan joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan on December 14, 2022. He also sat down with the former Congress president to voice his views, laying emphasis on improving the economic indicators of the country as he also said “Bharat ko jodna hai” (we need to unite India).   

In this candid interview, Rajan said that 2023 will be difficult for the Indian economy as also for the rest of the world and the country had failed to "generate reforms" needed for growth.

More On It: 'Bharat Ko Jodna Hai': Former RBI Guv Raghuram Rajan Tells Rahul Gandhi — Watch