After storming out of the meeting, Mamata Banerjee claimed that her mic was muted and she was allowed to speak for only 5 minutes.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday walked out the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting, alleging that she was not given “inadequate time to speak” and was discriminated against, The Indian Express reported.
Banerjee alleged that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, while the chief ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states of Assam, Goa and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10 to 12 minutes. The Telugu Desam Party is an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.
Banerjee alleged that in contrast, her microphone was cut off within five minutes.
“I came alone from the Opposition but they stopped me in five minutes,” the chief minister said. “This is an insult. I will not attend any further meetings.”
The Union government’s Press Information Bureau, however, described Banerjee’s claim as misleading. The agency claimed that only a clock showed that her allotted time was over, but no bell was rung to mark it.
“Alphabetically, CM, West Bengal turn would have come after lunch,” the Press Information Bureau said in a social media post. “She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early.”
Five chief ministers of Opposition-ruled states had earlier said that they would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting to protest against the allegedly discriminatory Union Budget presented on July 23
Banerjee, however, said that she would attend it to protest the “political discrimination being done with Bengal”.
On Saturday, the chief ministers missing from the meeting included Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Telangana’s Revanth Reddy, The Indian Express reported.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar was also not present at the meeting. His party is part of the National Democratic Alliance.
‘NITI Aayog should be scrapped’: Mamata Banerjee
Ahead of the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting, Banerjee had said on Friday that the government-run public policy think tank should be scrapped and the earlier Planning Commission should be brought back, PTI reported.
The NITI Aayog was constituted in 2015 to replace the 65-year-old Planning Commission.
