Rahul Gandhi is smart, not "pappu", says ex RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, who recently took part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said to a TV broadcaster on Wednesday that Rahul Gandhi is not a "pappu." "Pappu" is perceived as a social media slur coined to target Rahul Gandhi.

"The image is unfortunate. I have spent many years, say close to a decade, interacting with him on various fronts. He is no way a pappu. That would be the last word I would use to describe him," said Rajan in an interview with India Today.

"He is smart, young, and a curious man," said Rajan on being asked how he would describe Gandhi.


"He has a good sense of what the priorities are and a good sense of basic risks and being able to evaluate them, and I think he is perfectly capable of doing that," he added.

Rajan recently participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra march of Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi. However, he clarified that he is not joining any political party. "I joined Bharat Jodo Yatra as I stand for the values the yatra is about. I am not joining any political party," Raghuram Rajan said.

Rajan also sidestepped a question on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's performance, and refused to evaluate RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' policies.

"I will not rank. I never did it. She has a tough job and she is doing a tough job and it's not for me to give rankings to people doing jobs," Rajan said on FM Sitharaman.

He also said that demonetisation did not achieve its initial objectives and countered the argument that it did not led to a digital economy as that would have happened sooner or later.

Rajan also advised that India should leverage it's G20 presidency to seek greater openness towards service exports.