Niti Aayog meeting: Nitish Kumar absent while Mamata Banerjee stages a walkout

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee told reporters in Delhi that her mic was muted and that she was only allowed to speak for five minutes. Pic/ANI

Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar did not attend the Niti Aayog meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, officials said. Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee walked out of the meeting midway, reported ANI. She alleged that her microphone was muted and she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes while the other CMs were given more time.

According to news agency PTI, officials said that the state was represented at the meeting by deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.

The cause for Kumar's absence from the crucial meeting is unclear.

"This is not the first time that the CM is not attending the Nitish Aayog meeting. The CM did not attend the meeting earlier as well, and Bihar was represented by the then deputy CM. This time also both the deputy CMs went to attend the meeting. Besides, there are four Union ministers from Bihar who are members of the Aayog and they will be present in the meeting," the spokesperson of Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Neeraj Kumar, told PTI.

Meanwhile, Banerjee, speaking to the reporters, has claimed that the Central Government is indulging in political discrimination. She said, "I was the only one from the Opposition who was participating [in the meeting] but was still not allowed to speak. This is insulting. I told you [Central Government] that you 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."

Government sources, however, said that it is incorrect to say that Banerjee's microphone was switched off and asserted that the clock showed that her speaking time was over. They further added that alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch but she was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request from the West Bengal government as she had to return to Kolkata early.

Before leaving for Delhi, Banerjee, who is the Chairman of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), said, "I will protest against the political discrimination being done with Bengal in the Niti Aayog meeting. In the Budget, the way they have discriminated against Bengal and the other Opposition states, we can't agree to that."

The TMC supremo further stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers are trying to "divide Bengal".

"The attitude of their ministers and the BJP leaders is such that they want to divide Bengal. Along with the economic blockade, they also want to impose a geographical blockade. Different leaders are giving different statements to divide Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, and Bengal. We strongly condemn this attitude," she said.

The ninth governing council meeting of the Aayog discussed the 'Vikshit Bharat@2047' document with an aim to make India a developed nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of Niti Aayog. The council, the apex body of Niti Aayog, comprises all CMs, Lt Governors of Union territories and several Union ministers. Mic muted, not allowed to speak more than 5 minutes: Mamata Banerjee walks out from NITI Aayog meeting

She further said that dividing Bengal means dividing the nation and further mentioned that she will record her voice at the meeting and if they won't let her, she will protest and leave the meeting.

"Divide Bengal means to divide our country, India. We want to record our voice in this situation, and I will be present there to do so. I will try to record my voice if they let me or else I will protest and come out," she said.

CMs of Opposition-led states who boycotted the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Wednesday, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy said that their government will boycott the NITI Aayog in protest against the Central Government's alleged injustice to the states in the allocation of funds in the 2024 Union Budget.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)