West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged “political discrimination” at a key NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi held to allow states to present their concerns to the Prime Minister. Ms Banerjee was the only Chief Minister from a non-BJP ruled state who attended 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 she was allowed to speak for only five minutes. The allegation was dismissed by the Centre through the fact-check handle of the Press Information Bureau.
“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,” Ms Banerjee told reporters.
“I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but I still was not allowed to speak. This is insulting,” she added.
Despite INDIA bloc chief ministers boycotting the meeting, Mamata Banerjee had said that she wanted to raise ‘political discrimination’ meted out to Bengal in the Union Budget.
The Centre refuted Ms Banerjee’s claims and said that her mic wasn’t 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).
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
After reaching Kolkata on Saturday, Ms Banerjee spoke to reporters and said the bell was rung repeatedly. She said she was the only opposition chief minister who attended the meeting and that she had done so in the spirit of cooperative federalism.
“I thought I would speak on behalf of opposition-ruled states. We have no objection to others getting money, but you cannot deprive us. States have to manage everything. If you handicap states, then the Union will be handicapped,” the Bengal chief minister fumed.
“(Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu spoke before me for 20 minutes. Four other chief ministers spoke for more than 15 minutes but, as soon as I crossed five minutes, they asked me to stop. So I said I will boycott if you don’t want to hear… I was the only opposition chief minister and I should have been given 30 minutes. I am not undeserving that I won’t follow time. I am a senior politician. I have been a six-term MP. I wanted to speak. Is it not insulting to keep pressing the bell?” she asked.
The chief minister said she and her party will “have to think” if such meetings should be attended in the future. “This a deliberate attempt to malign the opposition,” she said.
Other Opposition leaders had refused to attend, citing the “raw deal” meted out to states ruled by them in the Union Budget. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin initiated the boycott, followed by Congress-ruled states like 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 Jharkhand and Kerala chief ministers, Hemant Soren and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively, have also decided to skip the event.
