Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Urjit Patel had been considering leaving his position as governor of Reserve Bank of India for several months.
Urjit Patel’s resignation as the RBI governor may have been a surprise to most, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi was aware of his decision for several months.
The Prime Minister revealed that the former chief of the Reserve Bank of India had informed him of his decision nearly six months ago.
“I am revealing for the first time, he (Urjit Patel) was telling me about this for the past 6-7 months before his resignation. He gave it even in writing. He wrote to me personally,” Modi said in an interview to ANI.
Patel announced he was stepping down on December 11 citing personal reasons – a move that came amid an acrimonious stand-off between the central bank and the government. Prime Minister Modi had tweeted that the RBI governor had left behind a “great legacy”.
The Prime Minister further dispelled the opposition’s criticism that Patel was made to leave. “No such question arises. I acknowledge that Patel did a good job as RBI Governor,” Modi said.
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Stressing that institutions like CBI and judiciary are integral to his government, the Prime Minister stressed that the opposition Congress party has no right to accuse the BJP of weakening them.
“Congress has no right to speak on this issue. Against the PM and PMO, the NAC (National Advisory Council) was formed. What kind of empowerment of the PMO was this? Cabinet takes such a big decision and a big leader tears that Cabinet decision at a press conference. What kind of respect is (it) for an institution?” Modi said.
“Coming to judiciary, they openly said that we will decide judiciary on the basis of ideology and senior judges were shown the door and junior judges were promoted. And you are talking about institutions? In the same RBI, several times Governors were forced to leave before their term expired. You called Planning Commission people a bunch of jokers,” he added.
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