BJP leader takes a potshot at new RBI Governor's educational qualifications

While the new RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has had the Twitterrati buzzing about his educational qualifications since Tuesday, Jaynarayan Vyas is possibly the only political figure - a BJP member to boot - voicing his criticism on the same lines. Das is reportedly the first non-economist in 28 years to head the apex bank.

"The New RBI Governor Das's [sic] educational qualification is MA (History). Hope and Pray he doesn't make RBI also a History. May God Bless the New Arrival," Vyas, who was a member of Narendra Modi's cabinet when the latter was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, tweeted on December 11. That's the day the new RBI Governor was announced.

The party member's questioning of PM Narendra Modi's decision to appoint Das as Urjit Patel's replacement has upset the BJP, The Times of India reported. Vyas, who lost the Gujarat assembly elections in 2012 and 2017, is presently the party in-charge for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat. He is also a member in the state BJP executive committee.

The daily added that Vyas holds a master's degree in civil engineering from IIT, Mumbai, a postgraduate qualification in management, a PhD in the same discipline as well as a degree in law.

"The RBI has a tradition of having reputed economists like C. Rangarajan, Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel. The coming time for a person like Shaktikant Das, as the new governor of the RBI, will be challenging. He will have to pass a credibility crisis test. He will have to prove that he is an expert in handling economic affairs as well," Vyas told the daily, after his eyebrow-raising tweet. "I have raised concerns only in the context of the very challenging condition of the Indian economy. Like in 1991, the country's economy is passing through a crisis phase. It is not an encouraging situation. My party has the slogan, 'Khud se pahele party, aur party se pahele desh [Party before self and country before party]. The opposition also needs to act responsibly."

(Edited by Sushmita Agarwal)

Also Read: There has to be free, fair, objective discussion between govt, RBI: Shaktikanta Das

Also Read: 5 issues RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das needs to address right away