West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday walked out of NITI Aayog's 9th Governing Council meeting in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that she was allotted only five minutes to speak, while others were given significantly more time.
"I said you (central government) 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," Banerjee told media persons, expressing her frustration and calling the situation "insulting."
Banerjee, notably the only opposition leader in attendance, expressed her disappointment at not being given adequate time to voice her concerns.
"I was the only one from the opposition who was participating, but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting," she added.
Several opposition-ruled states had already declared their intention to boycott the meeting.
Chief ministers from three Congress-ruled states—Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Telangana's Revanth Reddy—announced their non-attendance due to perceived biases against their states in the Union Budget 2024.
Additionally, Tamil Nadu's chief minister and DMK leader MK Stalin, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab and Delhi governments also chose to boycott the meeting.
Banerjee had previously stated that she believed in raising opposition voices on a common platform, which motivated her initial attendance.
The meeting focused on making India a developed nation by 2047, aimed to foster participative governance and enhance collaboration between the Centre and state governments.
Key discussion points included improving the quality of life in both rural and urban areas by strengthening government intervention delivery mechanisms.
The council, as the apex body of NITI Aayog, comprises all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers, with Prime Minister Modi as its chairman.
The meeting also aimed to address recommendations from the 3rd National Conference of Chief Secretaries held in December last year.
These recommendations spanned five key themes: access to drinking water, quality and efficiency of electricity, healthcare accessibility and affordability, schooling access and quality, and land and property digitization and registration.
A vision document is being prepared to help India achieve a developed economy status of USD 30 trillion by 2047, the 100th year of its independence.
In 2023, NITI Aayog was tasked with consolidating 10 sectoral thematic visions into a combined vision for Viksit Bharat @2047, encompassing various aspects of development such as economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance.
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