West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the central government of “political discrimination” during a key NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, which was intended to allow states to present their concerns to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Banerjee was the only Chief Minister from a non-BJP ruled state to attend the meeting, as all other INDIA bloc leaders boycotted the event.
After storming out of the meeting, the Trinamool Congress chief claimed that her microphone was muted and that she was allowed to speak for only five minutes.
WATCH | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says her mic was muted during a NITI Aayog meeting. @AITCofficial slams Centre for ‘disrespectful’ behaviour.#MamataBanerjee #NITIAayog pic.twitter.com/wyc4XGfIej
— The Theorist (@thetheorist_in) July 27, 2024
“I said you (Centre) shouldn’t discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak, but my mic was muted. I was allowed to speak only for five minutes, while people before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” Banerjee told reporters. “I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting,” Mamata Banerjee added.
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Banerjee had attended the meeting to raise concerns about what she termed ‘political discrimination’ against Bengal in the Union Budget, despite other Chief Ministers from the INDIA bloc boycotting the event.
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
The Centre, however, refuted Banerjee’s claims, stating that her microphone was not muted. “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 said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
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Other opposition leaders refused to attend the meeting, citing the ‘raw deal’ meted out to them in the Union Budget. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin initiated the boycott, followed by Congress-ruled states such as Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, and Telangana’s Revanth Reddy. The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and the Chief Ministers of Jharkhand and Kerala, Hemant Soren and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively, also decided to skip the event.
