New Delhi: Stating “discrimination” and “inadequate time to speak”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the NITI Aayog Governing Council (GC) meeting on Saturday. However, an official fact-check issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said that Mamata’s claim was “misleading”, The Indian Express reported.
PIB wrote in an X post, “This claim is #Misleading. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it.”
“Alphabetically, CM, West Bengal turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early,” PIB wrote.
According to Mamata Banerjee, her mic was cut off in five minutes while CMs of other states were allowed to speak for longer. She said that Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, and CMs of Assam, Goa and Chhattisgarh were given 10-12 minutes. But she was stopped after just five minutes, which was unfair, Mamata said.
Addressing reporters outside the South Avenue gate of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the meeting was taking place, Mamata continued that she came alone from the Opposition and she was stopped at 5 minutes, which was an insult. She added that she would not attend any further meetings. She slammed the Centre, saying that no government works like this and that when a government is in power, it must take care of everyone.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin boycotted the meeting while the Narendra Modi government’s own close ally, Nitish Kumar, chose not to attend it.