New Delhi [India], July 27 (ANI): With West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attending the Niti Aayog meeting on Saturday, JD-U leader KC Tyagi asked if she intends to join the ruling NDA.
“INDIA alliance has decided that all its members will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting. I want to ask Mamata Banerjee if she wants to join NDA because even after being asked not to go, she went to the NITI Aayog meeting,” Tyagi told ANI.
Earlier, while speaking to the reporters, the West Bengal CM alleged “political discrimination” and said that at the NITI Aayog meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes while other chief ministers were given more time.
“I said the central government should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak, but my mic was muted. I was allowed to speak only for five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” Banerjee told reporters after she stormed out of the NITI Aayog meeting today.
“I was the only one from the opposition participating, but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting,” Banerjee said as she walked out of the meeting midway.
“I have come out boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped after just five minutes. This is unfair,” the Chief Minister said, speaking to reporters after leaving the meeting.
Claiming she participated in the meeting to strengthen “cooperative federalism,” Banerjee said, “There are many regional aspirations. That is why I am here, to share those aspirations. If a state is strong, the Union will be strong.”
Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also rejected Mamata Banerjee’s claim that her microphone was switched off during the NITI Aayog meeting, stating that every Chief Minister was “allotted due time to speak.”
“CM Mamata Banerjee attended the NITI Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given their allotted time, displayed on the screen before each table. It’s completely false that her mic was turned off. Every CM was given their due time to speak,” the Finance Minister told ANI.
Sitharaman described Banerjee’s claims as “unfortunate,” adding that the government was happy that the West Bengal Chief Minister attended the meeting, where she spoke on behalf of the opposition, i.e., INDIA bloc.
“It’s unfortunate that the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has claimed that her mic was switched off, which is not true. We’re happy she participated in this meeting, presented her case for West Bengal, and spoke for the opposition. But even as she did so, we adhered to the procedure,” Sitharaman said.
She further remarked that Banerjee should have requested more time if needed, instead of using it as an excuse to walk out of the meeting.
“If reminded that her time is over, she could have requested to continue speaking like other Chief Ministers did. Instead, she used it as an excuse to leave the meeting,” Sitharaman said. “She should speak the truth rather than build a narrative based on falsehood,” she added. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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