West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged "political discrimination" at a key NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi held to allow states to present their concerns to the Prime Minister. Ms Banerjee was the only Chief Minister from a non-BJP ruled state who attended the meeting, as all other INDIA bloc leaders boycotted the event.
After storming out of the meeting, the Trinamool chief claimed that her mic was muted and she was allowed to speak for only 5 minutes.
"I said you (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," Ms Banerjee told reporters.
"I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting," she added.
Despite INDIA bloc Chief Ministers boycotting the meeting, Mamata Banerjee had said that she wanted to raise 'political discrimination' meted out to Bengal in the Union Budget.
The Centre though, refuted Ms Banerjee's claims and said that her mic wasn't 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).
It is being claimed that the microphone of CM, West Bengal was switched off during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog#PIBFactCheck
▶️ This claim is #Misleading
▶️ The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it pic.twitter.com/P4N3oSOhBk— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 27, 2024
Other Opposition leaders refused to attend citing the 'raw deal' meted out to them in the Union Budget. 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. The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and the Jharkhand and Kerala chief ministers, Hemant Soren and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively, have also decided to skip the event.