New Delhi, April 3 -- Poonam Gupta's appointment as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could test the status quo on some of the regulator's policies and frameworks.

This will be Gupta's maiden policy-making role. She entered RBI after spending a significant part of her career with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Her prolific newspaper writings suggest that her views on policy matters are not always fully aligned with those of RBI and the government.

Gupta is categorically opposed to the RBI's exchange rate policy, and, as recently as last month, argued for letting the rupee depreciate more than the RBI has allowed. Persisting with such an approach could at once get her into the BJP's crossha...