BJP hails appointment of Gita Gopinath as Kerala CM Advisor

Thiruvananthapuram: In a U-turn, BJP in Kerala today welcomed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's decision appointing Harvard University Professor Gita Gopinath as his Economic Advisor, saying there was 'nothing wrong' in it.

"There is nothing wrong in the Chief Minister taking such a decision if it helps the state," BJP state President Kummanam Rajasekharan said, adding that the saffron party does not believe in opposing every decision of the ruling front.

But authorities should make sure that in the name of development, corporates should not exploit environment and natural resources.

BJP's state unit had earlier questioned the LDF government's decision, saying the Chief Minister seemed to have lost trust in his Finance Minister Thomas Issac. However, today Rajasekharan came out in support of the decision.

"Change of thoughts in accordance with time is essential for the development of the state. The Chief Minister's readiness to change his thoughts and stand as per modern times is laudable," Rajasekharan said in a statement here.

"All these years, the Left's financial policies had only helped in pushing the state's development backward. I think, the Chief Minister had changed his stand after realising this,"?he said.
Gopinath had hailed the NDA government at the centre saying Vijayan should make it clear if her appointment was following the realisation that Left's economic policies were "archaic".

The appointment of the Harvard professor by the LDF government has come in for criticism from some quarters citing her 'neo-liberal' views.

Veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achutanandan had written to the party's central leadership questioning the appointment, saying her neo-liberal views were contrary to the Left ideology, even as the CPI(M) state leadership came out in support of the decision.

Opposition Congress has also attacked the decision to appoint Gopinath, who hails from Kerala's Kannur district.