Last Updated on 27/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
The 9th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog was held today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On reaching Kolkata after attending the meeting, Mamata Banerjee said that I believe that there should always be a cooperative relationship between the state and the center, there should be no politics in development. Mamata said that no one came to this meeting. I thought I would speak for everyone.
Mamata Banerjee said that in the meeting, NDA allies were given more time and other parties were given less time. She said that if you paralyze the states, then the center will also be paralyzed. The bell was being rung continuously in the meeting. However, the CMs of Assam, Arunachal, Goa put forth their views. Some people spoke for 15-20 minutes in the meeting.
When my turn came, after about 5 minutes, he said wait, during this time I told him about the issues of Bhutan river. Many people are misleading on the Teesta-Bangladesh issue. I said that the state is a party. But you never talked to us. It is not that I should keep my point for more than my allotted time.
Rajnath Singh said that there are 5-7 minutes for everyone. You can speak for 20 minutes and more. But I did well by boycotting the meeting. Because you were constantly ringing the bell. I am such a senior leader, I did not speak more than 6 minutes. I was the only leader of the opposition. Now we have to think whether we can go, they are lying now. This is a deliberate attempt to scare the opposition.
Let us tell you that Mamta Banerjee left the Niti Aayog meeting midway. She had said that I have boycotted the meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. CMs of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is wrong. She said that I am the only one representing the opposition here and I am participating in this meeting because I am more interested in strengthening cooperative federalism. Niti Aayog does not have any financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial power or bring back the Planning Commission. I registered my protest and came out.
On the other hand, Congress said on Mamta Banerjee’s claim that since its inception 10 years ago, Niti Ayog has been an office attached to PMO and has been beating the drum for the PM. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Niti Ayog has not promoted cooperative federalism in any way. Its functioning has been clearly biased and it is not at all professional and independent, it suppresses all different and dissenting views. Its meetings are a spectacle. The behavior done with the CM of West Bengal today is typical of Niti Ayog, which is completely unacceptable.
However, on Mamata’s allegations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Mamata Banerjee has told the media that her mic was turned off, this is completely false. CM Mamata Banerjee attended the NITI Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every Chief Minister was given the allotted time, which was visible on the screen on every table. She told the media that her mic was turned off. This is completely false.