West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee walks out of Niti Aayog meeting alleging 'humiliation'; gains opposition backing

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the Niti Aayog governing council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, alleging that she was “humiliated” as her “microphone was switched off after five minutes” and she was not allowed to complete her speech.

While the government countered Banerjee’s charge, saying she was allowed to speak for her allotted time like all other chief minister s, other INDIA bloc of opposition parties rallied around the only chief minister from the opposition bloc who had attended Saturday’s meeting, while most others had boycotted it. Chief ministers from states ruled by DMK, Congress, AAP were among those who skipped the meeting to protest against the Centre’s “discrimination” in Budgetary allotment to their respective states.

“I was the only one (from Opposition-ruled states) present there, they should have allotted at least half-an-hour for me… and I am not an irresponsible person that I will not maintain my time, Banerjee told the media after storming out of the meeting.

Elaborating on what happened at the meeting, the Bengal CM said, “At the beginning Rajnath Ji had said five to seven minutes… so I was not allowed even seven minutes. I would have completed all that I had to say, even if the seven minutes were allowed. But they rang the bell at five minutes, and I said, okay then I shall leave… and I left.”

Expressing her disappointment, Banerjee said, “For them (those with the ruling side) it is 20 minutes, special package, special privilege, for the rest it is zero… that can never be virtuous. I did right by boycotting the meeting, I will never allow people of Bengal to be dishonoured, will never accept Bengal’s deprivation. We stand in solidarity with all parties who are running governments in different states and are being deprived by the Centre,” speaking to the media outside of the Niti Ayog, before leaving for Kolkata.

Mentioning that she felt "humiliated” at what happened, she said, "If they understood their mistake, they would not have done this with me. This was a deliberate attempt to malign the Opposition.”

“I have no issues if some states get a bigger share… but that cannot mean some states will get almost nothing… If you paralyse the states, the Centre will get paralysed in the coming days… the seriousness of this issue should be understood, I said and then I talked on how Bengal was being deprived.

“I told them (at the meeting) that the Centre only gives instructions and puts up pictures, it is the job of states to do the work on the ground. You only gave instructions during the Covid-19 crisis and it was the states who handled everything. I told them that they have withheld ₹1.72 lakh crore of our fund, and this amount will only increase this year," she told the media here.

Narrating details of the meeting, the CM said, "Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh CM) presented his views for 20 minutes, chief ministers of Assam, Arunachal, Chhattisgarh, and Goa also presented their views for 15, 16, 17, 20 minutes. But I spoke only for 5 minutes and people started interrupting me by ringing the bell. I said, okay, you don't want to listen to Bengal, and I boycotted the meeting and left.”

The government’s sharp retort came from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She said, "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... She said in the media that her mic was put off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak... It's unfortunate that the chief minister of West Bengal has claimed that her mic was switched off which is not true... She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” reacting Banerjee’s allegations.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief M K Stalin condemned the Centre for the “unacceptable” treatment for Banerjee. "Its (Niti Ayog) functioning has been blatantly partisan… It muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints, which are the very essence of an open democracy… Its treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is "unacceptable," Ramesh posted on X.

Stalin’s X post said: “Is this #CooperativeFederalism? Is this the way to treat a Chief Minister? The Union BJP government must understand that opposition parties are an integral part of our democracy and should not be treated as enemies to be silenced. Cooperative Federalism requires dialogue and respect for all voices."