BJP Bengal chief strikes different note, feels Abhijit Banerjee can help economy

Kolkata: While his party colleagues have critiqued Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee for his ‘Left-leaning ideas’, BJP Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh feels Banerjee’s advice can help alleviate the country’s economic crisis.

“I am sure he will give good suggestions for overcoming the economic crisis that India and the entire world are going through. He is a big personality and the Nobel is a huge achievement. Others are entitled to their opinion,” Ghosh said during the Gandhi Sankalp Yatra in Kamarhati, North 24 Parganas.

Recently, Union minister Piyush Goyal congratulated renowned economist Abhijit Banerjee for winning the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, but also criticised him, saying he was ‘Left-leaning' and that the people of the country had 'totally rejected' his thinking.

Later, Bengal BJP leader and national secretary Rahul Sinha came out in support of the comments of Goyal and sparked a controversy by saying people with second wives who are foreigners get Nobel prizes.

He had said: “Piyush Goyal is right. These are the people who are colouring economy with Leftist ideals. But in India, such ideals are dead.”

Leading a 'Gandhi Sankalp Yatra' at Kamarhati on the northern outskirts of the city, in which central minister Nityanand Rai also participated, Ghosh said apart from a social message, the saffron party is also “giving a call for a change" in the state through this programme.

The yatra, which was launched in the state on October 16, is scheduled to cover all 42 Lok Sabha constituencies over a period of 10 days. "People want change in the state as they are unhappy with the Trinamool Congress rule, which has led to an atmosphere of political violence and social upheaval. This is evident from the response that our programme has been getting throughout the state," he said.

TMC president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee praised Abhijit Banerjee, saying the entire state was proud of his achievements. According to sources, the state government is already planning to felicitate Banerjee. Mamata also recently visited his residence in Kolkata and met his mother.  

''If more people like Abhijit Banerjee continue their work for the society, we will be happy," the chief minister said after meeting the family.

The Presidency University, Banerjee’s alma mater, too has planned to confer a DLit on him.

Abhijit Banerjee, an Indian-origin economist and academic professor, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. He won the coveted award along with his French-American wife Esther Duflo and American economist Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty".

"The research conducted by the 2019 Economic Sciences laureates has considerably improved our ability to fight global poverty. In just two decades, their new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research," said a tweet from the official handle of the Nobel Prize committee.