Political fault lines that emerged after the Lok Sabha election deepened in the first NITI Aayog meeting of the Modi 3.0 government on July 27 with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the lone leader of the Opposition bloc to attended the meeting, storming out saying she was “not allowed” to speak.
Ms. Banerjee left the meeting even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech that the dream of a ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ (developed India) can be achieved only through the combined efforts of all States.
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Vision of developed India can be realised through developed State: PM
“Viksit Bharat 2047 is the ambition of every Indian. States can play an active role in achieving this aim as they are directly connected with the people,” the Prime Minister, who chaired the ninth governing council meeting of the body, said.
Ms. Banerjee said she came out “boycotting the meeting”. “Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) was given 20 minutes to speak. The Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10 to 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,” the Trinamool chief told the media.
“They have stopped all welfare projects for Bengal and deprived the State of its rightful Awas Yojana and rural roads scheme. They also stopped the food subsidy. We are deprived of funds worth ₹1.71 lakh crore. This Budget has nothing but zero. Immediately after I said this, the mic was switched off,” she said.
The government hit back quickly. The official PIB Fact check unit posted on X that the claim was “misleading”. “The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it,” it said.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said every Chief Minister was given the allotted time and that was displayed on the screen which was kept before every table.
“She said in the media that her mic was turned off. That is completely false. It’s unfortunate that the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has claimed that her mic was switched off, which is not true. She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
The meeting was attended by representatives of 26 States and Union Territories and those from 10 were absent, CEO of Niti Aayog, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, told the media. All Opposition-ruled States except West Bengal were absent.
Mr. Subrahmanyam said the West Bengal Chief Minister had requested for a slot to speak before lunch. Normally, States get slots in alphabetical order and Ms. Banerjee’s turn would have come later.
“She was called before Gujarat. Every Chief Minister is allotted seven minutes. There is a clock to tell you the time. Nothing else has happened. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh just tapped on his table. She made her points which were reflected in the minutes. Her Chief Secretary continued to attend the meeting and he was in the room. She left as she said that there was an assembly session,” he said.
The NITI Aayog CEO said the agenda for the meeting was ‘Viksit Bharat’ and Prime Minister Modi observed that the vision of developed India can be realised through developed States and that the aspiration should reach the grassroots level.
The chief takeaways were Mr. Modi’s suggestion that there should be a marker of ‘zero poverty’. The NITI Aayog CEO explained that it was being explored whether villages can be designated ‘zero poverty’, just like other markers of drinking water and toilets.
The need for demographic management was discussed. “The country is ageing and we have to plan for the future,” Mr. Subramanyam said. The approach paper for the vision document has been circulated among all States and they were expected to give their responses by two to three weeks.
