Ever since Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that his party had consulted economist Raghuram Rajan to draft its minimum income guarantee scheme Nyuntam Aay Yojana or NYAY, the million dollar question that everyone wanted an answer to was if Rajan would join politics. He even appeared in the Congress's manifesto video, vouching for NYAY. Now, the former RBI governor has now himself clarified about his political future.
In a recent interview with THE WEEK, Rajan said he does not see a political future for him. "I think you are popular until you enter politics, then you become unpopular. That is why I have no interest in entering it. I have no interest in becoming a politician," Rajan told THE WEEK. Rajan's response might put an end to rumours on his political entry to an end, at least for the time being.
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Speculations were rife following claims that Rajan might become the finance minister if an opposition alliance wins the upcoming general elections following Rahul's statement that Rajan was consulted for NYAY and the latter confirming that the Congress had approached him. At the same time, Rajan had said that he was willing to return to take an opportunity where he could be of use. "I am very happy where I am. But if there is an opportunity to be of use I will always be there," Rajan had said during the launch of his third book 'The Third Pillar' last week in New Delhi.
Rajan was the former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund before he became the 23rd governor of the RBI between September 2013 and September 2016. Rajan is currently the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in the US.