High drama marked the 9th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog on Saturday, as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dramatically walked out of the meeting, accusing the central government of gagging her after giving her a speaking time of five minutes. The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had Banerjee as the only representative from the opposition-ruled states. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was expected to attend but was found to be away.
On emerging from the meeting, the visibly upset Banerjee told journalists, “I have come out boycotting the meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke 10-12 minutes. I was stopped after speaking for five minutes. This is unfair”.
She further said that her attending the meeting was based on stressing the cooperative federalism and went like this, “From the opposition side, I was the only one here. I attended the meeting because cooperative federalism should be strengthened.”.
She minced no words in criticising the “biased” Union budget presented last week. She also questioned the effectiveness of Niti Aayog. According to her, it does not have the financial powers to work effectively. “And, on top of that. This is actually a political and partial Budget. I said, why are you discriminating against other states? You have taken away all the financial powers of the NITI Aayog, so how will it work? Give financial powers to it or bring the Planning Commission back,” Banerjee demanded.
The chief minister also accused the Centre of scuttling several welfare projects for West Bengal. “They have stopped all welfare projects for Bengal and deprived the state of its rightful Awas Yojana and rural roads scheme. They have also stopped the food subsidy. We are deprived of funds worth ₹1.71 lakh crore. This budget has nothing but zero,” she alleged.
Rather than that, the TMC leader complained that her microphone was soon muted after she made those points, which made her angrier to leave the meeting in protest.
Banerjee’s walkout from the NITI Aayog meeting underscores the growing tensions between the central government and opposition-ruled states. Her demand for reviving the Planning Commission—abolished in 2014—as a part of the central federal setup reflects a broader demand for a more inclusive and financially empowered federal setup. Given that the stakes are considerably high in political terms, the consequences of what has transpired today are likely to have implications that extend far beyond the four walls of the meeting room.
Earlier all INDIA bloc chief ministers, decided without Mamata Banerjee decided to boycott the meeting.
