‘A Bengali has done the nation proud’: Mamata Banerjee and Amartya Sen celebrate Abhijit Banerjee’s Nobel victory

NEW DELHI: The week began on a celebratory note as economist Abhijit Banerjee became the 10th Indian to receive the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday. He jointly shared the prize with his economist-wife, Esther Duflo, and another American development economist, Michael Kremer.

From politicians and cricketers to other personalities, several proud Indians took to social media to congratulate the Mumbai-born economist.

Amartya Sen, the first man of Indian origin to win the Nobel in Economic Sciences and Banerjee’s class fellow from Presidency College during their undergraduate years, expressed delight over the 58-year-old economist’s win.


In an interview to a news agency in Boston, the Nobel laureate said, "I am very very happy and delighted that Abhijit Banerjee along with others have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics".

Meanwhile, back home, former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly, who is currently making headlines for his candidature as the BCCI Chief, also shared his thoughts on the India’s big win and the fellow Bengali.

"It's (Nobel Prize) a much bigger and terrific achievement. I have not met him (Banerjee) ever. I was reading about him in the flight and what he did... It's on economics related to poverty. He's a special person. Hopefully I will meet him someday," Ganguly was quoted by news agencies. He further added, “From all of us, heartiest congratulations (to Banerjee)".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a special tweet for the Indian-American economist, acknowledging his contribution to poverty alleviation.

President Ram Nath Kovind too shared his thoughts on the giant win for India.


The West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also sent her best wishes to the Indian-origin economist. “Another Bengali has done the nation proud” Mamata Banerjee wrote in her tweet. The Bengal CM was one of the first ones to fete the half-Bengali, half-Konkani economist.


Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and ex-Congress President Rahul Gandhi too sent out tweets congratulating Banerjee. Gandhi, however, used the opportunity to express his displeasure at the poor state of Indian economy.


Former Prime Minister and a renowned economist himself, Dr. Manmohan Singh, also expressed his pleasure at Banerjee’s victory.

In a letter to Banerjee, Singh said, "It gives me immense pleasure and pride to know that you are now the second Indian to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics."

B-town was not far behind. Celebrities like Farhan Akhtar and Dia Mirza shared a special post on Twitter, congratulating Banerjee.

Currently, Banerjee is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has also studied at the University of Calcutta and Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1988.

The Swedish academy announced 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel for the economists’ experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

(With inputs from PTI & IANS)