Mamata Banerjee walks out of NITI Aayog meet, says ‘my mic was stopped’; govt sources quip, ’clock showed her speaking…’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the NITI Aayog meeting and alleged unfair treatment and political discrimination. The NITI Aayog meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held in Delhi.

Banerjee who attended the meeting walked out of the meeting and alleged that her microphone was deliberately turned off while she was speaking, preventing her from completing her speech. She also added that Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes while Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes.

While speaking to reporters, the West Bengal CM said, "...I was speaking, my mic was stopped. I said why did you stop me, why are you discriminating. I am attending the meeting you should be happy instead of that you are giving more scope to your party your government. Only I am there from the opposition and you are stopping me from speaking...This is not only the insult of Bengal but also of all regional parties..."

She added, “Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, CMs of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair. From the opposition side, only I am representing here, and attending this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened. Even Budget also... this is political biased Budget. I said why are you discriminating against other states. NITI Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring back Planning Commission.”

Meanwhile, PTI quoted government sources saying it is incorrect to say that Banerjee's microphone was switched off and asserted that the clock showed that her speaking time was over.

They further added that alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch but she was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request from the West Bengal government as she had to return to Kolkata early.

"I have not seen what has happened in the (NITI Aayog) meeting. I can only say this so-called INDI alliance is not at all an alliance because Mamata did not give a single seat to Congress in West Bengal. They are not able to digest the mandate of the people, they are crying foul," said Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Meanwhile, All opposition INDIA bloc chief ministers, except Mamata Banerjee, had boycotted the meeting as a mark of protest against Budget 2024, which they alleged was ‘anti-federal’ in spirit and ‘extremely discriminatory’ towards non-NDA states.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh consecutive Union Budget in Parliament on July 23. The FM announced significant financial aid for Andhra Pradesh and major infrastructure projects for Bihar. N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party governs Andhra Pradesh. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) is in power. The TDP and the JD-U are allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.