No, Ex-RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan Did Not Make This Statement Against PM Modi

Over email, Raghuram Rajan told The Quint that he had not said or written this message.

Social media users are sharing a viral text message which makes several points about "today's India" and how the country had "progressed greatly" even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, attributing it to former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan.

What does the message say?: According to posts, the message was penned by Raghuram Rajan, who purportedly says that "today's India is a garland of flowers in the hands of a monkey."

• Calling Rajan an ordinary, country-loving citizen, it says that India has progressed greatly in the last 70 years, "irrespective of caste and creed."

• It goes on to highlight developmental projects in the country – such as the construction of the Bhakra Nangal Canal, the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and so on – comparing them to various stages of growth in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life.

• The message remarks of the benefits of the hard work put in by prime ministers in the first 70 years of Independence, saying that despite all their work, some still try to "believe that everything happened because of Modi in the last four years."

• Dubbing the Prime Minister as "casteist," the message wishes the same "casteless, communally harmonious India" that "our forefathers enjoyed" upon "our children in the future."

(Archives of more claims can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: There are no credible reports or social media posts to support the claim that Raghuram Rajan made this statement.

• In an email exchange with The Quint, Rajan clarified that he had not said or written this message.

How did we find out?: Using some words from the message as keywords, we looked for news reports.

• However, this search yielded no results, as we did not come across any credible news reports about Rajan making this statement.

• Next, we went through Raghuram Rajan's LinkedIn profile, where he often shares his writing.

• There was no text similar to the message in the claim here either.

• The Quint has reached out to Raghuram Rajan over email, where he told us, "I did not say or write this."

Raghuram Rajan and false quotes: Social media users have misattributed controversial and misleading statements in the past.

• In 2018, as fake quote about Rajan warning former finance minister P Chidambaram and Rahul Gandhi about Nirav Modi and financial irregularities at Punjab National Bank went viral. Rajan dismissed this attribution, calling it "pure, utter rubbish."

• In March 2023, another quote about the Indian economy becoming like Sri Lanka's economy was attributed to Raghuram Rajan. In this case, too, Rajan denied the claim.

Conclusion: There is no credible evidence to back the claim that Raghuram Rajan made this statement about India's progress and PM Modi.

(This article has been updated to include Raghuram Rajan's response.)

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