Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday comes up in support of Nobel prize award-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee after Union Minister Piyush Goyal described Banerjee as a left-leaning person.

Slamming the BJP leader, Rahul Gandhi said millions of Indians are proud of Banerjee and bigots are blinded by hatred.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday had said the Nobel prize award winner's thinking is left-leaning. He had also said Banerjee's praise for the NYAY scheme was rejected by Indian voters and there was no need to accept what he thinks about the scheme.

In response to Union Minister, Banerjee had said that Piyush Goyal is questioning his professionalism. Reports said Banerjee had assisted the Congress in formulating the NYAY scheme that promised Rs 72,000 to poor families per year. However, he also said PM Narendra Modi is genuinely popular and the people should support him.