Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a media report which claimed the government is seeking Rs 3.6 lakh crore from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), alleging that he needs the amount to fix the "mess his genius economic theories" have created.
Gandhi also urged Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel to "stand up" to the prime minister and "protect the nation".
There was no immediate reaction on the charge made by Gandhi.
"Rs 36,00,00,00,00,000. That's how much the PM needs from the RBI to fix the mess his genius economic theories have created. Stand up to him Mr Patel. Protect the nation," he tweeted and also posted the media report.
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The report claimed that at the heart of the RBI-government standoff was a proposal by the Finance Ministry seeking to transfer a surplus of Rs 3.6 lakh crore, more than a third of the total Rs 9.59 lakh crore reserves of the central bank, to the government.
While Gandhi has accused the government of "destroying" institutions with its alleged strong arm tactics, the differences between the Modi government and the RBI came out in public domain after a deputy governor raised concerns about the central bank's autonomy and warned that the governments that did not respect the central bank's independence would sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets.
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On Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley retaliated to Acharya’s speechby once again blaming the Central bank for all the ills in the system, par of neglecting in carrying out its supervisory role with diligence. Signs of a truce in the turf war are expected soon till the next round. As Acharya rightly pointed out, any negative signal could spook the market.
Recently, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is swallowing important institutions such as RBI and CBI like an 'Anaconda' and affecting the nation.
(With inputs from PTI)
