Thiruvananthapuram, July 25: At the turn of the millennium, when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the then Bengal chief minister, made Tarun Das, the then CII director-general, the chairman of Haldia Petrochemicals, it was hardly considered a law-and-order issue.

A decade later in 2011, when a Congress-led government in Kerala appointed Das as a member of the state planning board, so apprehensive was the administration about the reaction of the Opposition CPM and the business leader's safety that the first meeting of the board was held in the chief minister's office. The Left had expressed the fear that Das would "corporatise" the board.

The preamble is essential to gauge the import of what Pinarayi Vijayan, the new Marxist chief minister heading the Left coalition government in Kerala, has done now.

Vijayan has sought out an economist from Harvard to advise him.

Gita Gopinath, the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics at Harvard University, is widely respected and international publications have hailed her as the first Indian woman to secure tenure (permanent employment) in the Harvard economics department.

Gopinath's proposed role in the southern state appointment should normally have been a celebratory occasion, especially when an acclaimed economist like Raghuram Rajan is preparing to bid adieu to the RBI.

However, some Left leaders in Kerala - and elsewhere - are said to be busy Googling for published and uttered material by Gopinath to highlight her "neo-liberal" footprints and wonder how such heresy can be committed by a Marxist chief minister.

Gopinath's ideological convictions could not be confirmed as an email from this newspaper to the professor sent yesterday remained unanswered till late tonight.

Published reports on her have attributed to her comments on the need for land and labour reforms. Although the exact nature of the changes she advocates is not clear, the word "reforms" is a red rag to the Reds.

One background sleuth has dug up a nugget that Gopinath had told a TV channel in November 2014 that the Narendra Modi government had managed to revive the buzz around the Indian economy. She apparently termed the "deregulation of diesel prices" - something the CPM had slammed - a "big step".

But some previously published comments suggest she had also lauded efforts to introduce welfare programmes. Although the comments were made in March last year after Arun Jaitley presented the Union budget, the Left should have little ideological problem with such a stand.

A whisper campaign is now under way, suggesting that Vijayan has inducted Gopinath to cut to size finance minister Thomas Isaac, also an economist. "I do not want to comment on the matter,'' Isaac told The Telegraph today, asked about criticism that Gopinath's positions were not in sync with the professed policies of the CPM.

An economist based in Kerala, who did not want to be named because he was not familiar enough with Gopinath's work to make an authoritative comment, said: "From whatever I have read, Gopinath's policies don't seem to be in sync with the Left's professed stand on those issues. Till now, all governments that have ruled Kerala have stressed the distribution aspect. Maybe Vijayan wants to bring in some balance by shifting the focus to other aspects like manufacturing and investments."

So far, Vijayan, whose stranglehold on the state unit of the party is undisputed, has shown no signs of a rethink on Gopinath.

Besides, few party associates have aired any criticism in public.

Anathalavattom Anandan, the state president of CPM's trade union wing Citu, said he had no knowledge of the appointment and could react only after it was confirmed.

"I have heard of it only from newspaper reports. I'm not aware of any discussion held to make any such appointment, nor do I know whether it has been made. I cannot comment unless it is confirmed,'' said Anandan.

Last week, local media had reported that an official statement had announced the appointment, which will be co-terminous with the government's tenure. The post does not carry any remuneration.

Citu all-India president A.K. Padmanabhan pointed out: "A government may have so many advisers. But, ultimately, what the Left government implements will be what has been promised in the election manifesto and decisions taken after discussions in the Left Democratic Front."

Asked about criticism that the Left was practising a double standard, the Citu leader said: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Don't judge a government by what others say. There are in-built checks and balances."

The CPI, an ally of the CPM, said differences, if any, would be sorted out in the LDF and not through the media. "The chief minister need not consult anyone if he wants an adviser. The government's policies are what is given in the manifesto and discussed in the front," Kerala CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran told this newspaper.

Asked if he meant to say the CPI agreed with the decision on Gopinath, Rajendran said: "I have no concern that our agenda cannot be implemented. Even if we had any objections, there is a forum to raise that, which is the LDF. I will not raise it through the media."

Communist Marxist Party (CMP) leader C.P. John, who was a member of the state planning board constituted by the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front government, welcomed the move. (Yes, in the roller-coaster, alphabet-soup coalition politics of Kerala, a party that calls itself Communist Marxist can find itself supping with the Congress. The CMP is a breakaway group from the CPM.)

"Malayalis are global (remittances from abroad are indispensable) and so is the Kerala economy. It is always good to have people in your team with first-hand experience of what happens in the higher echelons. Gopinath has rubbed shoulders with global economic giants and will be an asset," John said.

But he added: "I have serious doubts if even Prakash Karat, who is known as Vijayan's mentor in the CPM, will stand by him on this politically."

John recounted the 2011 experience. "When Tarun Das was appointed as member of the state planning board, CPM leaders had criticised it, saying he was a corporate spokesman, and accused the government of trying to corporatise the state. So much so that we were worried about Das's security and held the first meeting of the planning board in the CM's office," he reminisced.

"It is amusing to watch the same people debate Gopinath's selection as economic adviser."

Contacted today, Das said he could not recall if the first meeting took place at the chief minister's office. But he added: "There was tension when I first went. But it waned after a while."

Das pointed out: "It was ironical. I was a CPM chief minister's nominee for HPL (Haldia Petrochemicals) chairman, and the Kerala CPM was objecting to my appointment as a member of the planning board."