West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today walked out of a crucial meeting of the Indian government’s policy think-tank Niti Aayog in New Delhi saying she was stopped from speaking “after just five minutes”.
“I have come out boycotting the meeting. (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu (an ally of BJP) was given 20 minutes to speak. The chief ministers of BJP-ruled Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair. From the opposition side, I was the only one here. I attended the meeting because cooperative federalism should be strengthened,” she told the media after coming out of the meeting.
Mamata slammed the Indian government’s annual budget presented on July 23 as “political and biased”.
Mamata said, “NITI Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring the erstwhile Planning Commission back.”
The West Bengal chief minister attended the meeting even as most of her counterparts in some other states belonging to the opposition INDIA bloc like Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and CPI(M) boycotted the meeting.
Mamata yesterday said that she attended today’s meeting to articulate the INDIA alliance’s views on the budget.
