After Bharat Jodo Yatra, Raghuram Rajan’s citizenship in question: Does ex-RBI guv hold a green card?
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who has publicly criticised the Narendra Modi government’s economic policies on occasions, recently made a special appearance on Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and it is creating buzz. Ever since he joined Gandhi in his movement, BJP supporters have started targeting him for siding with Congress.
Hours after the padayatra, Gandhi also put out a video clip of his interaction with the former RBI governor in which Rajan is heard telling Rahul that his yatra for “communal harmony and unity is something that the country needs, regardless of what political party you are in”. They also talked about the deplorable condition of the Indian economy.
According to reports, Rajan joined the Yatra after Rahul Gandhi’s personal letter to him, inviting them to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, however ever since his appearance with the Congress leader Rajan has been making headlines and an old question concerning his citizenship and green card has once again come to the fore.
The controversy around Raghuram Rajan’s citizenship erupted in 2103 when veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who sat in the opposition at the time, raised doubts about Rajan’s citizenship in the parliament.
The question was asked at the heels of Rajan’s appointment as the governor of India’s apex bank.
When Raghuram Rajan’s name was cleared by the government for the top job at RBI, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had given notice of calling attention in Parliament asking how a foreigner could be appointed as the central banker. He had also said there were enough Indians to run the RBI.
After Joshi’s explosive allegations in the parliament, a journalist asked Raghuram Rajan about his citizenship and the question left the top economist somewhat exasperated and stunned.
“I am an Indian citizen, I have always been an Indian citizen. I always held an Indian passport. I held an Indian diplomatic passport when my father was in the foreign service and when I travelled on behalf of the ministry of finance,” Rajan clarified at the time.
On the reported green card that the media alleged Rajan holds, the ex-RBI governor then said, “I have never applied for the citizenship of another country, I have never been a citizen of another country and have never taken a pledge of allegiance to another country.”
Does Raghuram Rajan hold a green card?
No. According to the statements made by economist and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to the media, he never applied for citizenship in any other country than India and holds no green card.
