Economics decoupled from politics

The political expediency did not mar the cooperation is commendable

The recently concluded state-level summits to woo investment in West Bengal and Gujarat saw the end of a bad practice in politics: that of federal coalition leaders boycotting summits organised by rival political parties in the states. No Finance Minister of the UPA Government had ever attended the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, which this year saw more than 21,304 MoUs being signed in its seventh edition.

Arun Jaitley flew down not only to Gandhinagar, but also to Kolkata to attend the Bengal Global Business Summit 2015 organised by the Mamata Banerjee government. Though the ruling BJP at the Centre and the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state have fought tooth and nail over political issues, the ruling NDA threw its weight behind West Bengal when it came to the pursuit of economic growth. In fact, central agencies followed it up by pledging Rs 1.14 lakh crore by way of investment in Bengal. That political expediency did not mar the cooperation is commendable.

Arun JaitleyBengalBJPinvestmentMamata Banerjee