In a fresh salvo at RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate sacking of the former IMF Chief Economist while alleging he was “mentally not fully Indian” and has “wilfully” wrecked the economy.

However, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh reacted sharply to the attack on Mr. Rajan.

Mr. Ramesh said RBI was a respected and venerable institution and beyond politics. Mr. Rajan is one of the most eminent central bankers in the world, acknowledged authority in finance and monetary economics.

“Why doesn’t Dr. Swamy come out and hit the real target. His real target seems to be the Finance Minister. Why set up dummy targets like the Governor of Reserve Bank who can’t speak unfortunately. Governor is not going to enter into a public spat,” he said.

BJP spokesperson on economic affairs Gopalkrishna Aggarwal said Mr. Swamy is a senior leader whose opinions “definitely matters” but added the final say will be with the government.

Following up his barb against Mr. Rajan at the end of Parliament session last week, Mr. Swamy wrote to the Prime Minister on Monday seeking termination of Mr. Rajan’s services with immediate effect.

“The reason why I recommend this is that I am shocked by the wilful and apparently deliberate attempt by Dr. Rajan to wreck the Indian economy,” he wrote adding his concept of raising interest rates to contain inflation was “disastrous”.

Also bad loans with public sector banks have doubled to Rs. 3.5 lakh crore in two years, he said.

Mr. Rajan was appointed RBI Governor by the previous UPA government in September 2013 for a three-year term, which can be extended.

“These actions of Dr. Rajan lead me to believe that he is acting more as a disrupter of the Indian economy than the person who wants the Indian economy to improve.

“Moreover he is in this country on a Green Card provided by the U.S. government and therefore mentally not fully Indian. Otherwise why would he renew his Green Card as RBI Governor by making the mandatory annual visit to the U.S. to keep the Green Card current?” he wrote.

Mr. Swamy had last week stated that Mr. Rajan was “not appropriate for the country” as he had in the garb of controlling inflation raised interest rates leading to “collapse of industry and rise of unemployment in the economy”.

“The sooner he is sent back to Chicago, the better it would be,” he had told reporters in Parliament House.

Mr. Swamy in the letter to Mr. Modi said the BJP came to power under his inspiring leadership. “I cannot see why someone appointed by the UPA government who is apparently working against Indian economic interests should be kept in this post when we have so many nationalist minded experts available in this country for the RBI Governorship.”

He urged Mr. Modi “to terminate the appointment of Dr. Raghuram Rajan in the national interest.”

Mr. Swamy, who was earlier this month nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP government, said Mr. Rajan’s concept of containing inflation by raising interest rates was “disastrous”.

“When the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) started to decline due to induced recession in the small and medium industry, he shifted the target from WPI to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which has not however declined because of retail prices. On the contrary it has risen.

“Had Dr. Raghuram Rajan stuck to WPI interest rates would have been much lower today and given huge relief to small and medium industries. Instead they are squeezed further and consequent increasing unemployment,” he wrote.

Mr. Rajan, Mr. Swamy said, was “acting more as a disrupter of the Indian economy than the person who wants the Indian economy to improve”.

Mr. Swamy, who was earlier this month nominated to Rajya Sabha by the BJP government, said Mr. Rajan’s concept of containing inflation by raising interest rates was “disastrous”.

“When the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) started to decline due to induced recession in the small and medium industry, he shifted the target from WPI to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which has not however declined because of retail prices. On the contrary it has risen.

“Had Dr. Raghuram Rajan stuck to WPI interest rates would have been much lower today and given huge relief to small and medium industries. Instead they are squeezed further and consequent increasing unemployment,” he wrote.