“As a good Brahmin, I think any money being given to me is dakshina. I will accept money from anybody as long as it is Indian. As a good Brahmin, it is my right to accept money.”

Indian politician, economist and statistician

Subramanian Swamy is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Born in 1939, he is known for his Hindu nationalist views and for a long public career that moved between academia, policy work and electoral politics. Before entering politics, he taught mathematical economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He served on the Planning Commission of India, was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government, and chaired the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade from 1994 to 1996. A long-time Janata Party member, he later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2013. His writing on Indian foreign affairs has focused largely on China, Pakistan and Israel.