Subramanian Swamy, statesman, Twitter celebrity and the man with a demand for every season, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending Governor of Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan be sacked “in the national interest”. The Rajya Sabha member reportedly wrote, “ He [Raghuram Rajan] is in this country on a Green Card provided by the US government and therefore mentally not fully Indian.” Swamy also criticised some of Rajan’s policies and urged Modi to “terminate the appointment of Dr Raghuram Rajan in the national interest.”

Those who have been keeping track of Swamy over the past two years will feel a sense of deja vu. If there’s one thing Swamy keeps doing, it’s delivering demands. While a few do in fact make sense, by and large Swamy’s demands are 24 karat entertainment gold. Most have, however, gone unheeded though Swamy has got Z category security, a bungalow in Lutyens’s Delhi and a seat in RajyaSabha for all his pains.

Here’s a small sample from Swamy’s wishlist.

1. Sack Siddharth Varadarajan because he’s an “anti-Nation naxalite”

One of the early examples of the Nationality Watchdog aspect to Swamy’s persona was his demand that Siddharth Varadarajan, then the Editor of The Hindu, resign because Varadarajan is an American citizen and therefore cannot be be appointed editor of an Indian newspaper by law.

The law is currently ambiguous on the appointment of foreign nationals as editors of newspapers, but that’s a minor detail. Also, Swamy’s petition was dismissed by Delhi High Court.

2. Investigate MK Gandhi’s killing (even if it’s pretty clear what happened)

Swamy demanded that the case of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination should be reopened because apparently the trial mentioned three bullets while photographs suggest there were four. Does the nation need to know? You decide. We’re just glad Swamy has the time to closely scrutinize vintage snapshots.

3. Quit India, Rahul Gandhi

Leaving aside the minor detail that Rahul Gandhi has (according to the Congress party) been an Indian national from birth and does not have British citizenship as Swamy claimed, Indian citizenship sounded a bit like a membership at the Delhi Gymkhana when Swamy lashed out at Gandhi. It’s a rather extreme tactic to get Gandhi out of Indian politics, in our humble opinion. In any case, it didn’t work.

4. The National Herald case was Congress’s way to Rs 5,000 crore

Just when you think he’s looney, Swamy will pull something out of his bag that makes you see him in a new light. How the National Herald case will pan out is a different matter, but the fact is, if it wasn’t for Swamy’s dogged pursuit, none of this would have come to light.

5. Sing it like Netaji did

For better or for worse, those intervals of good sense are short. Last year, Swamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the lyrics of “Jana Gana Mana” be replaced with the lyrics Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had written for his Indian National Army. These are “95%” the same as the existing lyrics, but minus references to the British monarchy, Swamy said.

Bose is a charismatic figure, sure, but he may not be the best pick if you’re looking for a figure who wasn’t looking Westwards to free India from the colonial yoke. After all, this is the man who wanted an alliance with Nazi Germany.

6. Prosecute the AAP, milord

Alleging that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had illegally helped SKN Associates Limited, Swamy demanded the prosecution of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia under Prevention of Corruption Act. How did he come to this conclusion? “From my investigations, I find that after coming to power for the first time, Kejriwal and Sisodia started milking these defaulters including SKN Associates,” said Swamy said in his letter.

Nice of him to conduct his own investigations.

7. A Ram Navami Party at Ayodhya Ram Mandir

A demand for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is almost predictable from a BJP member, but in addition to that, Swamy set a deadline. Doesn’t it warm the cockles of your heart that we have responsible, mature voices like his in the Rajya Sabha?

8. Arrest P Chidambaram

Swamy demanded the arrest of the former Home Minister, P Chidambaram under the National Security Act, having decided that Chidambaram was the country’s “biggest threat”. Ok then.

9. Down with Sonia Gandhi because her sister in Italy sells Indian antiques

Let us take a moment to appreciate the curiosity and the hard work of Swamy’s self-styled ‘investigations’, which help him come up with claims like this one. He claimed Sonia Gandhi’s sister sells antiques in Italy, which are stolen from India and have been provided to them by the LTTE.

Here’s the video with all his claims.

10. Make Operation Bluestar files public

This, however, which act as a reminder that Swamy isn’t always off the mark. The Rajya Sabha MP demanded that the files of the Operation Bluestar be brought into public domain and the documents be declassified so that a proper probe could be re-launched into the episode, which has been shrouded in secrecy.

11. Gurukul for the win!

Swamy appealed to the students and teachers in Jalandhar to adopt the ancient system of gurukul. He said, “While adopting the ancient gurukul system, the students should not only be given projects, but also encouraged to participate in such interactive activities which enhance their thinking capabilities and problem solving abilities.” What better way to prepare students for the 21st century than by going back to the future?

12. No Akbar, only Maharana Pratap

Because the road names in Delhi continue to be colonised by long-dead Mughal conquerors and it is presumably in the national interest to pretend they were never in India, Swamy has demanded Delhi’s Akbar Road be changed to Maharana Pratap Road.

13. “The First War of Independence should not be called mutiny”

Swamy has demanded that the history textbooks in India should stop referring to the 1857 War of Independence as “Sepoy Mutiny”. “The British called it ‘mutiny’. And even today it is being called ‘mutiny’ in our textbooks which is a great national shame and it should be rectified,” he said.

Not entirely unjustified, but this man does seem to have a lot of free time to be bothered by this detail.

14. “The license of Air Asia India should be suspended”

Swamy demanded that the flying license granted to airline Air Asia India should be immediately suspended, alleging that it had obtained the licence through “fraud”. This is possibly another victory for Swamy’s personal investigative services, but the case he filed against Air Asia India is now Delhi High Court’s caseload.

15. “An SIT probe should be set into the death of Sunanda Pushkar”

Like a next-door-aunty, it just becomes imperative for Swamy to express his concern and exercise his Right to Demand (and interrogate) pretty much any issue. Even if it’s already being investigated. Swamy demanded for a Special Investigative Team to probe into the case of the death of Sunanda Pushkar after writing three letters to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the case. Like we said earlier, he’s got a lot of time on his hands.