Mamata Banerjee said she was the only opposition voice at the meeting but claims she was still not given proper time while other speakers before her spoke for 10-15 mins.
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of a Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that she was unfairly stopped midway in her speech, despite being the sole representative of the opposition. Government sources, however, refuted her allegations, stating that her allotted speaking time had elapsed. Banerjee emphasized that her microphone was silenced after just five minutes, contrasting with other chief ministers who spoke for longer periods.
Banerjee said she was the only opposition voice at the meeting but claims she was still not given proper time while other speakers before her spoke for 10-15 mins, including Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu who she said spoke for around 20 minutes. The chief minister said that the move is an insult to all the regional parties, and she walked out of the ongoing meeting. She further said that she will never attend any NITI Aayog meeting in future.
“This is insulting. I will not attend any further meeting,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said. “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 told reporters after coming out of the meeting of chief ministers chaired by Modi.
“This is unfair. From the opposition side, only I am representing here. I attended this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened,” she added.
#WATCH | Delhi: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says, “…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… pic.twitter.com/53U8vuPDpZ
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2024
Mamata said she mentioned during the meeting that the government presented a politically-biased budget and asked why the Centre was discriminating among states. “The NITI Aayog has no financial powers. How will it work? Give it financial powers or bring the Planning Commission back,” she said.
Banerjee said she mentioned at the meeting that certain states were overlooked in the Union Budget for 2024-25. “I said you are politically biased, you are not giving attention to different states. Even the budget is a political, biased budget…. I told them it should be reviewed. I spoke for all states,” Banerjee said.
PIB Fact check denies allegation
Meanwhile, the Press Information bureau (PIB) defied the allegations charged by Banerjee. “Claim that microphone of West Bengal CM was switched off during the meeting correct. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it. Alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of West Bengal government as she had to return early,” it said in a post on X.
“Maybe she wanted the allotted time of all opposition CMs, claiming she as the only opposition face present at the meeting. The same is not possible. NITI Aayog meeting has a format. The meeting has a specific agenda,” the government sources said.
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
However, government sources told PTI that it is incorrect to say that Banerjee’s microphone was switched off and asserted that the clock showed that her speaking time was over.
They further added that alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch but she was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request from the West Bengal government as she had to return to Kolkata early.