Opposition parties slam Mamata Banerjee over her walkout from NITI Aayog meeting
West Bengal Congress chief and former MP Adhir Chowdhury said that the rise of Rahul Gandhi in national politics has posed a problem before the TMC supremo and she is trying to stay relevant
The Opposition parties in West Bengal have slammed chief minister Mamata Banerjee over her walkout from the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi on Saturday.
Banerjee walked out of the Niti Aayog meeting, claiming that she was allowed to speak only for five minutes. The NITI Aayog meeting is being chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“...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 in the national Capital after she stormed out of the meeting.
West Bengal Congress chief and former MP Adhir Chowdhury said that the rise of Rahul Gandhi in national politics has posed a problem before the TMC supremo and she is trying to stay relevant.
“She staged a drama the script of which was prepared before she landed in Delhi. She had already hinted that she would walk out of the meeting. Her primary problem is the rise of Rahil Gandhi in national politics. This made her jealous. But she has to show that she is still relevant at the national level. If a chief minister was invited and not allowed to speak, it’s a heinous crime. Why is she not moving the Supreme Court against this or staging a sit-in?” Chowdhury told media persons.
Banerjee told reporters that she was the only one from the Opposition who was participating but still, she wasn’t allowed to speak. “This is insulting...,” she said.
The chief minister, before leaving for Delhi on Friday, had told reporters in Kolkata that she would walk out of the meeting if she were allowed to speak.
“They (centre) have been showing a stepmotherly attitude. I want to speak about this. If they allow me to speak, it’s fine. If they don’t, I will protest and leave,” Banerjee had told reporters in Kolkata.
The CPI(M) said that the TMC supremo wanted to send a message to the BJP’s top brass.
“She decided to attend the meeting because she wanted to send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that she wasn’t like the other opposition parties,” Sujan Chakraborty, CPIM leader, told reporters.
“Mamata Banerjee’s walk out from NITI Ayog meeting was premeditated and for the cameras. It is sad to see a chief minister reduce serious issues of governance to theatrics. People of West Bengal are suffering as a consequence of her confrontational politics,” said Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s IT cell.