Panagariya Casts First Vote: Excited to Exercise Franchise

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) 16th Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Friday said he is excited to exercise his franchise for the first time on Saturday.

"The world is divided between those who have voted and those who have not. Tomorrow, I get to migrate from the latter to the former group. Truly excited to cast my first-ever vote!!," He said in a post on X.

Polling for Lok Sabha elections is scheduled in Delhi for Saturday.

To a query by an X user on whether Panagariya has given up his US citizenship or if he was always an Indian citizen but never in India at the time of elections, the finance commission chairman said: "It is the latter".

Panagariya is a Professor of Economics and the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University. He was appointed chairman of the 16th Finance Commission on December 31 last year.

From January 2015 to August 2017, he served as the first Vice Chairman of the Niti Aayog.

In March 2012, Panagariya was honoured with Padma Bhushan -- the third-highest civilian award.