Chidambaram hits out at Centre over resignation of RBI governor

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said he was saddened but not surprised by the resignation of Urjit Patel as RBI Governor and claimed no self-respecting scholar or academic can work in the NDA Government.

In a series of tweets, the senior Congress leader said the last meeting of the Reserve Bank of India Board held on November 19 was the "day of reckoning" and Patel should have resigned on that day.

"Dr Patel may have thought that government will re-trace its steps. I knew it would not. Good he quit before another humiliating meeting.

"Saddened, not surprised, by Dr Urjit Patel's resignation. No self-respecting scholar or academic can work in this government," he said.

Amid differences between the RBI and the government on a variety of issues, Patel on Monday resigned from his post citing personal reasons.

His resignation was being speculated right from the time the government cited a never-before-used provision of the RBI Act to get him to consider its views on relaxing lending norms for segments such as small and medium enterprises, the appropriate size of reserves the central bank must maintain and easing norms for weak banks.

Patel, 55, who took over as the 24th Governor of the central bank on September 5, 2016, had the shortest tenure since 1992.

He was hand-picked by the BJP-led government after his predecessor Raghuram Rajan was denied a second term.