Centre Disputes Mamata Banerjee’s Claim Of Being Muted At Key NITI Aayog Meeting

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged “political discrimination” during a key NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, intended to allow states to present their concerns to the Prime Minister. Banerjee was the sole Chief Minister from a non-BJP-ruled state to attend the meeting, as other INDIA bloc leaders boycotted the event.

After abruptly leaving the meeting, the Trinamool chief claimed her microphone was muted, and she was given only 5 minutes to speak, while others were allowed 10-20 minutes. “I said the Centre shouldn’t discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak, but my mic was muted. I was allowed to speak only for 5 minutes, while people before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” Banerjee told reporters. “I was the only one from the opposition participating, yet I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting,” she added.

Despite the INDIA bloc Chief Ministers boycotting the meeting, Mamata Banerjee had intended to address the ‘political discrimination’ against Bengal in the Union Budget.

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The Centre, however, refuted Banerjee’s claims, stating that her microphone was not muted. “It is being claimed that the microphone of CM, West Bengal, was switched off during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog. This claim is misleading. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it,” the Press Information Bureau said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Other opposition leaders, citing the ‘raw deal’ they received in the Union Budget, refused to attend. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin initiated the boycott, followed by Congress-ruled states like Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, and Telangana’s Revanth Reddy. Additionally, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, as well as the Chief Ministers of Jharkhand and Kerala, Hemant Soren and Pinarayi Vijayan, also decided to skip the event.