Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI, JULY 27 : An irate West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the Niti Aayog meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, claiming that her mic was muted, and she was not allowed to speak beyond five minutes.

Banerjee, who was the only Chief Minister from an opposition-ruled state to attend the meeting in Delhi, claimed her mic was muted when she brought up the issue of West Bengal being denied central funds.

“I was allowed to speak only for five minutes. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. The chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10–12 minutes. I registered my protest and came out,” the Trinamool Congress chief said.

“I was talking about central funds not being given to West Bengal, this is when they muted my mic,” Banerjee said.

Calling the move an insult to Bengal and all regional parties, Banerjee alleged bias towards NDA allies.

“I said, why did you stop me, why are you discriminating? From the opposition side, only I am representing here, and attending this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened,” she thundered.

However, government sources disputed her claim, saying her speaking time was over, and her turn would have come after lunch. “She was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early,” sources said.

Mamata Banerjee also reiterated her demand to scrap the Niti Aayog and restore the Planning Commission. “Niit Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring back the Planning Commission,” she said.

Congress to joined the controversy and termed Niti Aayog as a “drumbeater for the non-biological Prime Minister”.

“Since it was established ten years ago, NITI Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has functioned as a drumbeater for the non-biological PM. It has not advanced the cause of cooperative federalism in any manner. Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it is anything but professional and independent, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X.

“It muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints, which are the very essence of an open democracy. Its meetings are a farce to be reckoned with. Its treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is unacceptable,” he added.

Apart from opposition chief ministers, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also skipped the Niti Aayog meeting in New Delhi. The state was represented by deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.

The opposition states boycotted the meeting as a mark of protest against what they called a “discriminatory” Union Budget. The opposition has alleged that the Budget favoured Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, states ruled by NDA allies JD(U) and TDP.

-PTI