P Chidambaram Links Raghuram Rajan's Exit With Note Ban

Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday said a five-page letter, speaking against demonetisation, was submitted to the Centre by "someone in the Reserve Bank of India" on the day Raghuram Rajan stepped down from the post of Governor of the apex bank.

Mr Chidambaram dared the government to make the letter public. He made the remarks on the sidelines of an event organized to launch a book written by him titled, 'Fearless in Opposition, Power and Accountability'.

"If the government is transparent, it should make that note (letter) public. The note was written on behalf of the RBI. It was about demonetization, arguing why it should not be implemented," he added.

Chidambaram said demonetisation was one of the reasons why Mr Rajan left.

"They (government) made it so difficult for Mr Rajan to continue and, in retrospect it appears, one of the reason he was made to leave. They wanted to demonetise currency and Raghu was opposed it," he said.