An irate West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the ongoing NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, accusing that her microphone was deliberately switched off while she was speaking. Banerjee said that while her counterparts from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ruled states were given ample time to put their points forward, she was stopped from speaking about the allocation of funds for Bengal after just five minutes.
"I was speaking, my mic was stopped. I said why did you stop me, why are you discriminating. I am attending the meeting you should be happy instead of that you are giving more scope to your party your government. Only I am there from the opposition and you are stopping me from speaking...This is not only the insult of Bengal but also of all regional parties," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo told reporters after she came out of the meeting.
The West Bengal CM also slammed the Union Budget for 2024-25, calling it biased. "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, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair," she said.
Banerjee was the only Chief Minister from the Opposition's INDIA bloc to attend the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I attended the meeting because cooperative federalism should be strengthened. Even the budget.... This is political, biased Budget. I said, why are you discriminating against other states? NITI Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring the Planning Commission back," the TMC leader added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the ninth governing council meeting of NITI Aayog on Saturday, to discuss making India a developed nation by 2047 on agenda. The meeting came at the centre of a political storm after Congress Chief Ministers decided to boycott it.
FM Sitharaman Accuses CM Mamata Of Framing 'False Narrative', PIB Calls Her Claim 'Misleading'
Reacting to Banerjee's allegations, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharama said it was unfortunate that a "chief minister is framing a false narrative". She urged that Banerjee should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood.
“CM Mamata Banerjee attended the NITI Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time and that was displayed on the screen which was present before every table…She said in the media that her mic was put off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak…It’s unfortunate that the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has claimed that her mic was switched off which is not true…She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” news agency ANI quoted Sitharaman as saying.
A PIB fact check also debunked CM Mamata's allegations stating that "only the clock 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. This claim is Misleading. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it," the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a post on X.