There isn’t much to write home about when it comes to Chetan Bhagat’s relationship with those professing left, liberal and secular ideology.
Known for his explicit biases for the RSS and the BJP, Bhagat has often found himself a subject of social media ridicule for his perceived gaffe or what his critics often term ‘foot in mouth’ syndrome.
Sunday was no different. His critics began to mock him sarcastically projecting him as a future RBI governor in the wake of Dr Raghuram Rajan’s shock decision to not seek extension for his term ending on 4 September.
Rajan’s decision to announce his departure came on the day social media users were already seething with the announcement of a former cricketer’s appointment as the chairman of India’s premier fashion institute.
The angry social media users, predominantly owing allegiance to Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, launched a guessing game wondering who Prime Minister Narendra Modi would replace Rajan with. Among the names mockingly circulated were Chetan Bhagat, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev, Anupam Kher and Subramanian Swamy.
The dominating rationale behind shortlisting these names were that they were allegedly notorious for their brazen sycophancy for the BJP and Modi.
Bhagat took to Twitter to register his protest attacking AAP for questioning his expertise on economy.
In a series of tweets, Bhagat warned AAP to behave in a ‘decent manner.’ In his anger, he also appeared to have conveyed his interest for the job of future RBI Governor by saying that had he been given the job, he would have performed considerably better than AAP leaders.
I would request AAP to behave in a decent manner and not do mud-slinging PR like the news in the last tweet.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) June 19, 2016
Dear AAP, as you mock me, assure u had i ever done (am not) the RBI guv job, would be able to do it better than many others.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) June 19, 2016
AAP should tell its lo-IQ spokespersons to think twice before attacking others, though i understand thinking isn't their strong point.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) June 19, 2016
I love writing stories too much. But dear AAP, given my prev job I know economies and monetary policies better than any of you ever will.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) June 19, 2016
Although the social media conversation on Bhagat possibly replacing Rajan, according to his critics, were nothing but exercise to embarrass the Modi government, the controversial writer appears to have taken the jokes very seriously.
Modi’s critics say that they were aimed to highlight just how clueless the central government under Modi has been when it came to the appointment for the key posts such as the FTII chief and now the NIFT chairman.