RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has came out strongly against crony capitalism, saying it kills transparency and competition and hence is harmful to free enterprise, opportunity and economic growth. He said, crony capitalism, where the rich and the influential are alleged to have received land, natural resources and spectrum in return for payoffs to venal politicians was a major issue in the recent elections. The RBI Governor was speaking at a public lecture instituted in the memory of noted bureaucrat Lalit Doshi in Mumbai yesterday. Dr. Rajan pointed that one of the greatest dangers to growth of developing economies like India is the middle income trap where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down the growth. He said, the only way of avoiding this trap is to strengthen public services, especially those for the poor and financial inclusion drive of the government and RBI is a key initiative in this direction. Dr Rajan said, people tolerate crony capitalism and vote for a venal politician who perpetuates it because the politician is the crutch that helps the poor and underprivileged navigate a system that gives them so little access. He added that the solution to this problem lies only in making the system more efficient.