‘Drum beater of non-biological PM’: Cong on NITI Aayog after Mamata's walkout from think tank's meeting

Mamata Banerjee alleged that at the NITI Aayog meeting she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes while other chief ministers were given more time.

Published on: Jul 27, 2024, 17:28:06 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Congress on Saturday slammed the NITI Aayog meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of it, claiming she was unfairly stopped midway through her speech.

“Since it was established ten years ago, NITI Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has functioned as a drumbeater for the non-biological PM. It has not advanced the cause of cooperative federalism in any manner. Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it is anything but professional and independent,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh (PTI file)

“It muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints, which are the very essence of an open democracy. Its meetings are a farce to be reckoned with. Its treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is unacceptable,” he added.

Mamata Banerjee claimed that she was not even given seven minutes to speak at the meeting. “I was the only one from the Opposition ruled states who had gone there. They should have given me 30 minutes...At the beginning of the meeting, Rajnath Singh said that everyone should present their views in 5-7 minutes but I was not even given 7 minutes to speak,” ANI quoted Banerjee as saying.

ALSO READ: Opposition parties slam Mamata Banerjee over her walkout from NITI Aayog meeting

“Their people were given 20 minutes, they got special packages and privileges but others got 0 minutes. I did the right thing by boycotting the meeting. I will not let them insult Bengal. I stand strongly with the Opposition parties running the government in other states,” she added.

Responding to the Trinamool chief's allegation, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told ANI,"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. We could see that two tables have a screen before us. She said in the media that her mic was turned off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak."

(With ANI inputs)

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