Newly appointed Niti Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr. Ashok Lahiri, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. This meeting occurred the day after Lahiri assumed office, marking his first official engagement. Lahiri, a BJP MLA from West Bengal and a renowned economist, shared the meeting details on social media platform X.
Following Lahiri’s meeting with PM Modi, he mentioned the encounter on X, stating, “Today, I met with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.” Lahiri took over from Suman Bery, who had been in the position since May 2022. Additionally, Gobardhan Das, a prominent immunologist and academic, is set to join NITI Aayog as a member, adding a Bengal angle to the institution.
Das, who ran in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections on a BJP ticket but lost, previously served as Director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. His appointment, alongside Lahiri, signifies a significant representation of Bengalis in the country’s top policy-making body. Lahiri, representing Balurghat in the current Bengal Assembly, brings a wealth of experience in economics, having served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
With a career spanning over four decades, Lahiri is esteemed for his academic and policy contributions. The inclusion of two Bengalis in NITI Aayog could be seen as a move by the Bharatiya Janata Party to acknowledge Bengal’s intellectual and policy leadership, countering the All India Trinamool Congress’s influence in the state.
