West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the central government of discrimination during the NITI Aayog meeting. Banerjee stated that her microphone was turned off while she was speaking, questioning the motive behind the action.
"I was speaking, and my mic was stopped. I asked, why did you stop me? Why are you discriminating?" Banerjee said.
"I said you (central government) should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but I was allowed to speak only for 5 minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes. I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting," she added.
Banerjee said that such actions undermine the voices of regional parties and create an atmosphere of partiality within governmental meetings.
Centre Responds
The Centre has denied West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation that her microphone was muted during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) clarified in a post on X, stating, "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."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired the ninth Governing Council meeting with a focus on making India a developed nation by 2047. The meeting held at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre saw a boycott from the INDIA Bloc Chief Ministers citing discrimination against non-BJP ruled states in the Union Budget 2024. Mamata Banerjee was the sole opposition CM to attend the meeting.
BJP's key ally JDU supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also skipped the NITI Aayog meeting. The cause for Kumar's absence remains unknown. The state was represented by deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.