“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 every table…She said in the media that her mic was put off. That is completely false. Every cm was given their due time to speak…It’s unfortunate that the chief minister of West bengal, mamata banerjee has claimed that her mic was switched off which is not true…She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” news agency ANI quoted Sitharaman as saying.
Her remarks came after Banerjee alleged that her that her microphone was deliberately switched off when she started speaking about the allocation of funds for the state. She then walked out of the ongoing meeting.
“…I was speaking, my mic was stopped. I said why did you stop me, why are you discriminating. I am attending the meeting you should be happy instead of that you are giving more scope to your party your government. Only I am there from the opposition and you are stopping me from speaking…This is not only the insult of bengal but also of all regional parties…” she alleged.Banerjee further said that she was the only opposition voice at the meeting but claimed she was still not given proper time while other speakers before her spoke for 10-15 mins, including andhra pradesh cm chandrababu naidu who she said spoke for around 20 minutes.
“I don’t have any problem with them giving special attention to some states. I asked why were they discriminating against other states. This should be reviwed. I am speaking for all the states. I said that we are the ones who work while they only give directions,” she saidThe chief minister said that the move is an insult to all the regional parties, and she walked out of the ongoing meeting. She further said that she will never attend any niti aayog meeting in future.
However, the government in a statement said it is a misleading claim by the cm that her microphone was switched off. “Claim that microphone of West bengal cm was switched off during the meeting correct. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it. Alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of West bengal government as she had to return early,” the PIB said in a post on X..“This decade is of changes, technological & geo-political, and also of opportunities. india should grab these opportunities and make our policies conducive for international investments. This is the stepping stone for progress to make india a developed nation,” the Aayog posted on X citing the prime minister.
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