Davos 2023: Rahul Gandhi ‘smart’ man, ‘pappu’ image unfortunate, says Raghuram Rajan 

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was a “smart man” and that his “pappu” image was unfortunate. He added that it was essential to have a sense of evaluating priorities and basic risks, and Gandhi can do that. 

Speaking with Business Today Executive Director and Aajtak and India Today News Director Rahul Kanwal on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) Summit 2023, Rajan said, “I think the image is unfortunate. I have spent close to a decade interacting with them on many fronts, he is no way a ‘pappu’. He is a smart, young, curious man.”

He further mentioned that he walked with Rahul Gandhi on the Bharat Jodo Yatra since he stands for the values the Yatra stood for. The former RBI boss categorically denied his entry into politics. 

When asked about his criticism of the economic policies of the current ruling dispensation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he defended saying he had also criticised the economic policies of the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government. 

Rajan has criticised the BJP government for policy measures such as the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes and the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST). During the course of this interview, Rajan also said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had a tough job on her hands and that it was not his job to issue rankings to “people doing jobs.”

He stated, “I will not rank. I never did it. She has a tough job and she is doing a tough job and it’s not for me to give rankings to people doing jobs.” Rajan, currently the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said that the lower middle-class strata of India is anxious due to the lack of jobs and small and medium enterprises not doing well because of the pandemic. 

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