Mamata Banerjee walks out of Niti Aayog meet, alleges bias in speaking time

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of a Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday and claimed that she was unfairly stopped midway in her speech, despite being the sole representative of the opposition. Government sources, however, rejected her claim and said her speaking time was over.

Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer duration. "This is insulting. I will not attend any further meeting," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said. "I have come out boycotting the meeting. (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. The chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes," she told reporters after coming out of the meeting of chief ministers chaired by Modi.

"This is unfair. From the opposition side, only I am representing here. I attended this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened," she added. Government sources said 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. Banerjee said she mentioned during the meeting that the government presented a politically-biased budget and asked why the Centre was discriminating among states. "The NITI Aayog has no financial powers. How will it work? Give it financial powers or bring the Planning Commission back," she said.

"I was stopped from speaking after five minutes. I said this is unfair. I am the only one present from the opposition side, I am attending this meeting because of the greater interest," she said. Banerjee said she mentioned at the meeting that certain states were overlooked in the Union Budget for 2024-25.

"I said you are politically biased, you are not giving attention to different states. Even the budget is a political, biased budget. I told them it should be reviewed. I spoke for all states," Banerjee said. She also pointed out at the meeting that central funds are due to West Bengal under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Prime Minister Awas Yojana. Banerjee said she wanted to speak more but her microphone was switched off after five minutes. "I was stopped after five minutes. Others spoke for 10-15-20 minutes," she said.