Sorry, Raghuram Rajan is not interested in AAP’s Rajya Sabha seat offer

Raghuram Rajan stated that he had no plans to leave academics after the AAP expressed its interest in sending him to the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi, Nov 9: Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan once famously said, "My name is Raghuram Rajan and I do what I do."

Even his latest book is titled, I Do What I Do. True to his words, the world-renowned economist, who is also the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in the US, does what he want to do.

So, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) expressed its interest to nominate the 54-year-old economist to the Rajya Sabha, the former RBI Governor politely refused the offer.

In a short statement issued on Wednesday, his office at the University of Chicago said: "While Professor Rajan is engaged in a variety of educational activities in India, he has no plans to leave his full-time academic job at the University of Chicago."

In fact, only last year he went back to academics after finishing his tenure as the RBI Governor. Although Rajan himself has admitted that he was interested in a second-term in the office, but the Narendra Modi government did not offer him the job again.

On Wednesday, reports stated that the AAP approached Rajan offering him a Rajya Sabha seat and might not nominate its own leaders to the Upper House.

An AAP leader, who did not wish to be identified, said the party will not field any of its leaders for the three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi that will fall vacant early next year.

With its brute majority of 66 in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, a victory looks certain.
Apart from Rajan, the party is also looking for an eminent jurist and a known person from the field of social service for the other two seats, the leader said.

"We have approached him, but he is yet to revert to us," the leader added.

Delhi sends three members to Rajya Sabha. Currently, the city-state is being represented by Janardan Dwivedi, Parvez Hashmi, Karan Singh, whose terms end in January next year.

AAP leader Ashish Khetan confirmed party convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's choice on Twitter.

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