Centre refutes Mamata Banerjee's 'muted mic' claim: 'Every CM was given allocated time'
PTC News Desk: Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, who claimed that her microphone had been turned off during the NITI Aayog meeting on Saturday, was refuted by the Center. Every Chief Minister was granted a certain amount of time, according to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also refuted Mamata Banerjee's assertion. Banerjee was urged by Sitharaman to tell the truth as opposed to creating a "false narrative against the government".
#WATCH | On West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's allegations, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, "CM Mamata Banerjee attended the Niti Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time and that was displayed on the screen which was present before… pic.twitter.com/IxnO4NXj8l
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2024
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, became enraged and left the Niti Aayog meeting on Saturday, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of muzzling her microphone and preventing her from speaking for more than five minutes.
Being the only chief minister from a state run by the opposition to attend the conference in Delhi, Banerjee said her microphone was muffled when she brought up the subject of West Bengal not receiving central funding.
"I was only given five minutes to talk. It took Chandrababu Naidu twenty minutes to talk. For ten to twelve minutes, the chief ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke. "I registered my protest and left," declared the leader of the Trinamool Congress.
"I was talking about central funds not being given to West Bengal, this is when they muted my mic," Banerjee stated. Banerjee claimed favoritism towards NDA partners and called the decision an insult to Bengal and all regional parties.
"I questioned why you stopped me and why you displayed discrimination. "I am the only opposition representative here, and I'm here because it is in the greater interest of cooperative federalism to be strengthened," she bellowed.
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She claimed that her speaking time had ended and that her turn would have come after lunch, but government sources refuted this. "She was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early," according to reports.
She also restated her demand that the Planning Commission be reinstated and the Niti Aayog be abandoned. Since Niit Aayog lacks financial resources, how will it function? "Give it funding or reinstate the Planning Commission," she uttered.
Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, did not attend the Niti Aayog conference in New Delhi, nor did any chief minister from the opposition. Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha spoke on behalf of the state.
In response to what they perceived as a "discriminatory" Union Budget, the opposition nations abstained from the meeting. The Budget, according to the opposition, favored the NDA partners JD(U) and TDP in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
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- With inputs from agencies
