Born in 1961 in Mumbai, Bannerjee is a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Extending her wishes to Banerjee, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi said in a party statement, "Apart from making the nation of his origin proud by this spectacular achievement, Prof Banerjee and his fellow recipients' work in 'experimental approach to alleviating global poverty' had helped millions across the globe, including India, come out of poverty."
Sonia Gandhi added that Banerjee's recognition as a Nobel laureate has delighted every Indian.
However, her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi didn't let go this opportunity to play politics. While congratulating Banerjee, Gandhi claimed that it was Banerjee who "helped conceptualise NYAY", a poll plank of the grand old party in the run up to the 2019 general elections that didn't yield the desired result.
Rahul Gandhi said, "Instead, we now have Modinomics that's destroying the economy and boosting poverty."
Indian-origin MIT professor Banerjee, his wife and one-time Ph.D student Esther Duflo, and Harvard professor Michael Kremer have been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in economics for their work which has "dramatically improved our ability to fight poverty in practice," it was announced on Monday.
( With inputs from IANS )