Her allegation was dismissed by the government which said her speaking time was over.
New Delhi: The NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in new Delhi on Saturday saw an angry West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stomping out as she claimed that she was “unfairly stopped midway” in her speech, despite being the sole representative of the opposition.
Her allegation was dismissed by the government which said her speaking time was over.
In her complaint, Mamata Banerjee said her microphone was switched off after five minutes while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
“This is insulting. I will not attend any further meeting,” said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo.
“I have come out boycotting the meeting. (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. The chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes,” she said while addressing the media after coming out of the meeting of chief ministers.
“This is unfair. I am the only one from the opposition side. I attended this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened,” she added.
On the other hand, PIB Factcheck posted on X that it is “misleading” to say that Banerjee’s microphone was switched off. “The clock only showed that her speaking time was over”.
It is being claimed that the microphone of CM, West Bengal was switched off during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog#PIBFactCheck
▶️ This claim is #Misleading
▶️ The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it pic.twitter.com/P4N3oSOhBk
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 27, 2024
Banerjee said she mentioned during the meeting that the BJP-led Centre presented a politically-biased budget and asked why was it discriminating among states.
“They are politically biased. They are not giving proper attention to different states. Even the budget is a politically-biased budget,” she said adding, “I do not have any problem with them giving special attention to some states. I asked why were they discriminating against other states. This should be reviewed. I am speaking for all the states. I said we are the ones who work while they only give directions.”
She also said the NITI Aayog does not have any financial powers and either it should be given those powers or the Planning Commission should be reinstated.
“The Planning Commission used to plan for the states. The NITI Aayog has no financial powers. How will it work? Give it financial powers or bring the Planning Commission back,” she said.
(With PTI inputs)