Indians Should Be Concerned, Says Ex-RBI Governor Rajan on Patel's Resignation

Agencies

December 11, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 11: With RBI Governor Urjit Patel putting in his papers, his immediate predecessor Raghuram Rajan Monday said “all Indians” should be concerned as the strength of institutions is important for growth and development.

Patel, who faced the possibility of an unprecedented action from the government over differences on a variety of issues, resigned from his job, citing personal reasons.

“I think Dr Patel has made a statement and I think this is the ultimate statement that a regulator or a civil servant can make. I think the statement should be respected,” Rajan told news channel ET Now.

“We should go into the details as to why there was an impasse, which forced this ultimate decision,” he noted.

“I think, this is something that all Indians should be concerned about because the strength of our institutions is really important for our growth, sustainable growth and equity in the economy,” said Rajan, who completed his three-year term as RBI governor in September 2016.

With regard to powers of the RBI Board, Rajan said there is “an extreme” change in the nature of the governance of the Reserve Bank of India for the “board to become an operational board, that is to make operational decisions”.

During his tenure, Rajan had differences with the government and did not get an extension.

Earlier, the board was an advisory and the professionals from the central bank took decisions, Rajan said, apparently referring to recent appointments of RSS ideologue S. Gurumurthy and cooperative banking sector expert S.K. Marathe to the board.

“I think, the move towards giving the board more operational authority would impinge on the professional management to regulate and supervise (the bank)… and if that is to be the case then the board should be composed of professionals, as opposed to the larger public,” Rajan opined.

Patel’s resignation was being speculated right from the time the government cited a never-before-used provision of the RBI Act to get him to consider its views on relaxing lending norms for segments such as small and medium enterprises, the appropriate size of reserves the central bank must maintain and easing norms for weak banks.

Patel, 55, who took over as the 24th governor of the central bank on September 5, 2016, had the shortest tenure since 1992.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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