Bengal BJP breathes a sigh of relief after PM Modi and Abhijit

The West Bengal BJP, which is facing flak after some of its leaders criticised Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday after the "fruitful meeting" between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning. According to BJP sources the derogatory remarks against the economist, who has his roots in the city, in the past few days had a negative impact on the party in the state where it is making an all-out effort to unseat the Trinamool Congress and seize power in the 2021 assembly polls.

The "unsavoury" comments by a section of state and central leaders against Banerjee have not gone down well with the people of Bengal and the criticism has been construed as an attempt to fuel "anti-Bengali" sentiments, they said. Union minister Piyush Goyal had called Banerjee Left-leaning and said that his suggestion of a minimum income scheme has been rejected by Indian voters. Party national secretary Rahul Sinha echoing him had claimed that Banerjee's economic theories have not been proved on the ground in India and also made derogatory comments on his private life.

The state BJP leaders said the meeting between Banerjee and Modi on Tuesday has sent out a "positive and timely" message to the people of Bengal that the party takes criticism in its stride in a positive manner and does not hesitate to honour a deserving person even if he is a critic. "There has been a lot of criticism of the BJP in the last few days. But we are hopeful that the fruitful meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Abhijit Banerjee will silence all the critics.

"We too have immense respect for Banerjee as he has brought laurel both for Bengal and the country," a senior state BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.. Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee had called on Modi at his residence in New Delhi and held a "healthy and extensive" interaction on various subjects.

"Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours," Modi said in a tweet, sharing a picture of the meeting held at his official residence. Later, Banerjee told newsmen that he had a cordial and good meeting with Modi and cracked a joke on how the media is trying to trap him to say anti-Modi things.

Banerjee, an Indian-born American professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the Nobel Prize in economics jointly with Esther Duflo, also from MIT and his wife and Michael Kremer of Harvard Univeristy for "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty"..