West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, claiming that she didn’t get an opportunity to speak.
The TMC supremo further alleged that the Union Budget, that was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, was full of “political bias”.
“I have come out boycotting the meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, CMs of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking just after just five minutes. This is unfair. I said why did you stop me, why are you discriminating. I am attending the meeting, you should be happy, instead of that you are giving more scope to your party, your government. This is not only an insult to Bengal but also to all regional parties. This is unfair,” she said.
“From the opposition side, only I am representing here, and attending this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened. Even the Budget also, it has political bias. I said why are you discriminating against other states. NITI Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring back Planning Commission,” the TMC leader added.
The NITI Aayog’s 9th Governing Council meeting was chaired by PM Modi on Saturday. The meeting focuses on making India a developed nation by 2047. It aims to foster participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and state governments, enhancing the quality of life for both rural and urban populations by strengthening the delivery mechanisms of government interventions.
The council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers. Prime Minister Modi is the chairman of NITI Aayog.
The meeting also focusses on recommendations of the 3rd National Conference of Chief Secretaries held in December last year.