PM Modi deals ‘Bengali card’ by appointing Ashok Lahiri as NITI Aayog VC
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Dr. Ashok Lahiri as vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, seen as a confidence-building measure ahead of West Bengal Assembly elections. Lahiri, a West Bengal BJP MLA and economist, is expected to help counter damage from earlier comments by Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that hurt Bengali pride.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed Dr. Ashok Lahiri as vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, a move seen as damage control ahead of West Bengal Assembly elections. Lahiri, a West Bengal BJP MLA and economist, was appointed on April 25, along with immunologist Dr. Gobardhan Das as a full-time member. The appointments aim to dispel doubts that the BJP is 'anti-Bengal and anti-Bengali' following comments by Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that hurt Bengali pride. Lahiri, a former chief economic advisor, has been an MLA since 2021 and has held positions at Delhi School of Economics, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank. He has questioned the West Bengal government's economic policies and pre-poll promises made by the Trinamool Congress. Modi stated that Lahiri's experience will greatly strengthen India's reform journey and policymaking.
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