‘My mic was muted as I spoke in NITI meet', alleges Mamata Banerjee; govt issues fact check

New Delhi, July 26

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the only Opposition CM to take part in the NITI Ayog meeting underway here under the presidentship of Prime Minister Natendra Modi, walked out of the meeting after her microphone was allegedly switched off abruptly when she was in the middle of saying something.

“I have walked out of the meeting. I am boycotting it. I shall never attend a NITI Ayog meeting in future,” Banerjee told reporters after emerging from the meeting.

Banerjee said when asked to speak at the meeting, she said, “The union government must not discriminate between states”.

“A government cannot be run like this. It must treat all states as equal,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee said her microphone was switched off as soon as she raised the issue of discrimination.

“Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states and of states ruled by parties having alliance with the BJP were allowed to speak for 15 to 20 minutes without any interruption,” Banerjee said.

She said Chief Ministers of Assam and Chhattisgarh were allowed to speak for 10 to 15 minutes. Chandranabu Naidu, CM of Andhra Pradesh, spoke for 20 minutes.

“I was the only CM from an Opposition party present in the meeting. They ought to have been happy about it and allowed me to speak,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee said the treatment meted out to her was “an insult to all regional parties”.

Opposition parties earlier alleged that the Budget allocations were tilted in favour of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar since the BJP government in Delhi is dependent on the support of the ruling parties of these two states.

Congress also issued a statement saying Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states would not be attending the NITI Ayog meeting to protest against the discriminatory nature of the latest Union Budget.

Meanwhile, the government has issued a rebuttal over the West Bengal Chief Minister allegations.

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

BJP MP and spokesperson of the party’s West Bengal unit Shamik Bhattacharya described Banerjee’s leaving the NITI Ayog meeting on Saturday in a huff as a “drama based on a weak script”.

CPI(M) MP Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya also described Mamata Banerjee’s abruptly exit from the meeting as “theatrics”.

“All the Opposition CMs are boycotting the meeting. What was the compulsion of Mamata Banerjee’s to attend it?,” he asked.