West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of a NITI Aayog meeting on Saturday after she was ‘unfairly stopped’ from finishing her speech. The assertion however drew sharp condemnation from members of the ruling BJP as well the allied Congress.
“The things that Mamata Banerjee is saying regarding NITI Aayog meeting, I feel like she is lying…it is very surprising if a state’s CM wouldn’t be allowed to speak. Mamata Banerjee knew what would be happening there…she had the script,” opined Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Banerjee had walked out halfway through the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while claiming that she was unfairly stopped midway through her address.
Members of the BJP however dubbed it a ‘premeditated’ move while Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman aid that every chief minister was “allotted due time to speak”. The FM also accused Banerjee of “building a narrative based on falsehood”.
“It’s unfortunate that the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has claimed that her mic was switched off, which is not true, and it is unfortunate because we’re happy that she participated in this meeting. She put forth her case, spoke for West Bengal and, as she said, spoke for all the opposition. But even as she was doing it and we were hearing, as per the procedure. If she’s reminded that her time is over, even with the mic on, she could have requested that she will continue speaking like some other Chief Ministers did. But she chose to use it as an excuse so that she can get out of the meeting,” Sitharaman told ANI.
The central government’s fact-checking body also refuted the claim as “misleading” on Saturday afternoon. A PIB fact check said that “only the clock showed that her speaking time was over”.
(With inputs from agencies)