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Kerala’s Left government has moved toward a more investment- and market-friendly development model, sparking debate over whether this shift is strategic reinvention or a neoliberal turn.

Supporters say the change was necessary to overcome economic stagnation, while critics warn it could weaken welfare systems and worsen inequality and environmental stress.

The transformation is partly influenced by lessons from West Bengal’s decline, as Kerala’s Left pursues political relevance through pragmatism despite official denials of any ideological shift.

When economists Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati were locked in a celebrated public debate over India’s development path, two Indian states inevitably entered the conversation—Gujarat and Kerala. Bhagwati championed Guj

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