NITI Ayog meeting: Nirmala Sitharaman vs Mamata Banerjee; check who said what on ‘mic off’ allegation

Niti Ayog meeting: On Saturday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that her 'mic was turned off' before she could finish her speech at the meeting. Banerjee also claimed that the chief ministers of the BJP ruled states were allowed to speak for longer durations, while she was allotted only five minutes. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman refuted the allegations.

Mamata Banerjee's allegations

Mamata Banerjee claimed that BJP ally Chandrababu Naidu was allowed to speak for 20 minutes. She came out, boycotting the meeting, and said she was the only one present from the opposition.

"The chief ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair. From the Opposition side, I was the only one here. I attended the meeting because cooperative federalism should be strengthened," she said after exiting the meeting, reported ANI.

Banerjee claimed she wanted to speak but her mic was muted, which was insulting.

What did finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman say?

Meanwhile, the finance minister said every chief minister was allotted due time to speak. Nirmala Sitharaman said Banerjee's claim that her mic was turned off was completely false.

“CM Mamata Banerjee attended the Niti Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time, and that was displayed on the screen, which was present before every table. We could see that two tables had a screen before us. She said in the media that her mic was turned off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak,” she said.

Nirmala Sithraman said the Bengal CM didn't request for more time.

"If she's reminded that her time is over, even with the mic on, she could have requested that she continue speaking as some other chief ministers did. But she chose to use it as an excuse so that she can get out of the meeting," Sitharaman said.

"She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood," she added.

What did the PIB fact-check say?

A PIB fact-check stated that the claim was “misleading.” “Only the clock showed that her speaking time was over,” said the bureau.

"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 (PIB) said in a post on X.

The PIB also stated that the Bengal chief minister's turn to speak would have come only after lunch, but she was "accommodated" as the seventh speaker after an official request from her.

"Alphabetically, CM, West Bengal turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early," PIB Fact Check explained subsequently on X.

How did the Congress react?

The Congress said the treatment meted out to Mamata Banerjee was "unacceptable" and alleged that the government think-tank had been "blatantly partisan" in its functioning.

"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. Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it is anything but professional and independent...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," Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.