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Mamata Banerjee walks out of NITI Aayog meeting, saying she was not given enough time to speak

Posted on by angelo
Mamata Banerjee walks out of NITI Aayog meeting, saying she was not given enough time to speak

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday walked out of the NITI Aayog board meeting, alleging that she was not given “adequate time to speak” and that she was discriminated against. The Indian Express reported.

Banerjee claimed that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, while the chief ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states of Assam, Goa and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. The Telugu Desam Party is an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

Banerjee claimed that, however, her microphone was cut off after five minutes.

“I came alone from the opposition, but they arrested me five minutes later,” the prime minister said. “It’s an insult. I will not attend any more meetings.”

The Union government’s press information bureau, however, termed Banerjee’s statements as misleading. The agency claimed that only a clock indicated that her allotted time had expired, but no bell rang to signal it.

“In alphabetical order, the West Bengal Chief Minister’s turn should have come after lunch,” the Press Information Bureau said in a social media post. “She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on the official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return earlier than scheduled.”

Five chief ministers of opposition-ruled states had earlier said they would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting in protest against the allegedly discriminatory Union Budget presented on July 23.

Banerjee, however, said she would attend to protest against “political discrimination against Bengal”.

On Saturday, the chief ministers absent from the meeting included MK Stalin from Tamil Nadu, Pinarayi Vijayan from Kerala, Bhagwant Mann from Punjab, Siddaramaiah from Karnataka, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu from Himachal Pradesh and Revanth Reddy from Telangana. The Indian Express reported.

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar was also not present at the meeting. His party is part of the National Democratic Alliance.

‘NITI Aayog should be abolished’: 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 erstwhile Planning Commission should be revived, PTI reported.

The NITI Aayog was constituted in 2015 to replace the 65-year-old Planning Commission.

“Since the NITI Aayog was planned, I have not seen a single work being done because they have no power,” she said. “Earlier, there was a planning commission. As chief minister… at that time, I saw that there was a system.”

Banerjee said state governments have the power to take up their issues with the Planning Commission. She added that the latter has the authority to look after state governments in various areas. “But now there is no hope, no scope,” she added.

“I will raise my voice to end this NITI Aayog,” the chief minister said, according to PTI. “They have no financial involvement. They cannot do anything, they can only hold a meeting once a year to show their face. Please restore the Planning Commission.”

The meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council, convened on Saturday, was the ninth such meeting of the think tank since its inception and the first after its reconstitution following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.