Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan called upon Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence in Mumbai late Tuesday.
Mr. Thackeray’s son, Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray, said in a post on social media that the Thackeray family was delighted to host Mr. Rajan at their residence Matoshree’
Mr. Rajan, a fierce critic of the economic policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government, met Mr. Thackeray, his wife Rashmi and sons Aaditya and Tejas.
In a post on Instagram, Aaditya Thackeray said, “Truly a delight to host Raghu Rajan ji at our home, Matoshree. Apart from his already vast contribution to our economy on various roles, including being the Governor of the RBI, we strongly believe the future of the Indian economy must be guided by such individuals with a vision for the future.”
As CM of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra (which comprised of the undivided Shiv Sena, the undivided Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress), Mr. Thackeray had backed Mr. Rajan’s criticism of the Central government.
A December 2019 editorial in the Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamana, had hit out at the alleged centralisation of power in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), ascribing the country’s ‘poor’ economic health to this factor.
The editorial had accused the Centre of trying to control the Finance Minister and the RBI governor, while stating that the BJP was unwilling to listen to economists.
Stating that the Indian economy was “paralysed”, it had lauded Mr. Rajan’s “diagnosis” of the economy as “absolutely correct”.
Mr. Thackeray’s MVA government collapsed in June 2022 following Sena Minister (and incumbent CM) Eknath Shinde’s revolt and subsequent alliance with the BJP to form the Mahayuti dispensation in the State.
